A Soldier's Song
by Luxuria De'Voire
Summary: In a world where agents protect mankind, foreign agencies must work together internationally to stop a rising evil. Multi fic LightningxCloud S.
1. Rapturous Crimson

Hey there fellow fanfictioners, Luxuria here giving an update!

I'm reposting this story because guess what-I'M CONTINUING IT! eeeeeeeeeyup.

I've gotten much better at writing, and I feel like I can finally write for this fic and give it all I got. The story line has also improved IMMENSELY, and luckily I don't have to change any of the content in the chapters already posted.

I will not, however, be rewriting them, since I don't have that kind of time. When I finish, I might do so, but please bare with my old writing self until my latest chapter update (chapter 10).

Also, please read the times at the beginnings of the first few chapters, as things are a bit tricky and crazy.

I hope you all enjoy this story!

This is a story inspired by the _Cats&Dogs_ films, the classic _James Bond_ films, and the beautiful stories created by _Square Enix_. Featuring Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, World Ends With You, and many other fandom characters as canine and feline agents. It's weird, but it's a whole lot of fun to write :3

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The roar of the inanimate beast rang against the dunes of the desert, beating them like a merciless whip of rage. The tiny particles of sand whisking in the winds swarmed like a thousand insects, their horrid screech ringing out like a bloody battle cry. Three blurred figures pushed their way through the maelstrom with simple ease, the dark of the night beginning to set in.

"Reporting to head base: we're a man down. Agent A44 has just been concluded as absent." A large Belgian shepherd with spiky hair spoke into the communicator on his collar, his charcoal tinted pelt blustering in the wind.

"I didn't even realize he was gone…" a slightly smaller blonde canine adjusted his sharp black goggles as he mumbled in personal silence, spikes similar to his comrade's were adorn his head. His bulk body was much slimmer than his darker subordinate, but there was more husky blood than anything else in his breed, but the only rogue trait was his wolf like tail that hung just above the sand.

"Come on, we need to keep moving. I'm sure your mentor can take care of himself." Towering over the Belgian shepherd, an enormous jet black Akita bellowed out as he grumbled forward into the storm.

The three dogs trekked into the storm for what seemed like hours, but time itself had been morphed by the repetitive nature of the scenery, sand blowing everywhere you looked. Out of the ridiculous swirls of dust devils though, six glowing blue orbs illuminated like marbles in the storm. The dogs' eyes reflected the imperceptible blue sky high above them and the vicious storm, almost glowing as a sign of actual hope.

The smaller blonde male slowed to a stop as the sound of their paws walking lessened slightly. He turned his head to see his superior, only to find that the Akita had gone missing. With a quick bark, he called over his one comrade left,

"Where's the captain?" the spiky haired blonde said with a stern tone.

"He's gone?" the black shepherd looked past his friend with a worried look, but found no one in sight.

Both dogs stood in silence as they brooded over what their new plan of attack would be, but a sting of fear weighted itself on the younger male, his blonde fur whipping in the harsh winds. His superior began to pace a bit, an unyielding face painted on his visage. The still agent watched him with a calm expression, but something in the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. He squinted his eyes as he focused on the wave-like winds of the sandstorm, a bizarre, small red dot floating in the midst of it. He repeated his comrade's name, but the shepherd waved it off as he continued to talk to himself in an attempt to form a complicated strategy. The red light seemed to float aimlessly like a lantern, but suddenly stopped as it abruptly turned its attention directly at the SOLDIER watching it. Something told the fighter to run, but his claws dug deep into the sands like the anchor of a ship, along with his eyes aimed openly at the mysterious crimson orb.

"Damn it, there's not a single bar out here!" breaking his gaze with the light, the husky mix turned to look at his companion with a questioning face.

"I can't get in touch with H.Q., so we're just gonna have to pray we find them before the sun completely sets." The Belgian shepherd began to walk aimlessly into the desert, the enormous sword on his back protecting him from the whipping sands.

The blonde male turned his head back to look at the light, but it was gone. With a puzzled face playing on his visage, the soldier slowly followed after his subordinate literally having to pry his attention from the light's previous location with his claws.

"Lieutenant, I think we're being watched." His blue eyes shifted across the sands, soon meeting the back of his superior's head.

"Ah, come on rookie! What creature could follow us from such a distance in a sandstorm this big? You're just on tail's end, s'all." The black male replied somewhat cheerily, attempting to lighten the new SOLDIER's mind of worry.

The blonde male still checked behind him with concern, but decided to listen to his commander and continued their trail; the illuminating light still flickering in the back of his mind.

Something loud sounded from the earth, the ground trembling under their feet like a subtle quake. It quieted as the two dogs stopped in their tracks, but abruptly rumbled through the sand again. This action began to repeat in a pattern, both agents looking around themselves calmly, but serious expressions plaguing their faces. Now having to grip the ground with their claws as best they could, the echoe's degree was immensely powerful, and greatly increased in volume as the agents struggled to even move.

Then it stopped. The winds were the only sound audible to the canines' sensitive ears, but they both remained still in a defensive stance,

"Hm. That was weird." The black dog said in a carefree voice, taking a step in their trail again,

"Let's keep moving—whoa!" the male was cut off as the sand beneath him rose at a threatening pace, the ground screaming as it elevated. His subordinate jumped back a few feet as he shouted his commander's name with wide eyes.

Leaping gracefully off of the living sand dune, the shepherd landed near his comrade, a glower in his eyes. From out of the sand came an enormous monster in the shape of a metallic canine. Metal covered its body randomly like rusted armor, and the skin that showed was a dark burgundy color similar to that of rotten flesh. Tattered wings, one which was ripped savagely in half, were adorned on top of its back, which were once the color of a pure white, but now the tint of crusted blood. Its ribcage stuck out of the armor awkwardly, and inside its jaws were what looked like massive bridals usually worn by horses, each the color of brindled gold.

With a slow movement, it turned its colossal head towards the dogs that were about three times smaller than it, its eyes shut from the raging storm. The shepherd and husky froze; panic rushing through them like adrenaline, but neither moved a muscle. Being a brave soldier, the dark male stepped forward softly, his paw slowly touching the sand in front of him. The very moment his claws scratched the surface of the earth, the creature rotated its head at a frightening speed and let out a bone-chilling scream, so loud it echoed through the agent's ears even as they dashed away in a full out sprint.

Their breaths became quick and raspy as the shrieking monster pursued them, the younger soldier shouting over the roar to his partner,

"What is that thing?" The behemoth roared again, causing the agents to quicken their speed.

"I don't know, but one thing's for sure—" Suddenly, the Belgian shepherd growled as he grabbed the blade's hilt with his jaws,

"I hate running." With a powerful swing, the male swung the blade from his back, and skidded into the sand pulling a full 180 spin. The younger subordinate watched in utter confusion and loss, shouting after his superior while still running,

"Lieutenant!" despite his cry, the commander continued his plan of attack.

Using the physical thrust of the sword, he flung himself forward towards the oncoming beast, which was unaware that its prey had evaded him. Soaring towards the face of the villainous demon, the soldier's eyes widened in rage as he thrust the fat blade's edge right into the monster's closed right eye, a sickening resonance following the stab. As it pierced the eyeball cleanly, the fiend roared in pain, the wound clearly agonizing as it swung its head back and forth profusely trying to shake the agent off. With a revolting pop, the soldier went flying back into the sands landing on all fours, the massive, bloody eyeball now twisted onto his blade.

"That is just _nasty_…" the shepherd grimaced as he shook the eyeball off of his sword, making sure the juices didn't get on his dark-tinted fur.

The blonde soldier had made his way back to his commander, the beast having been distracted by its own eye torn out profusely, and allowing for the male to catch his breath,

"Sir—" the dog was quickly cut off by the creature's attacker.

"Come on soldier, I can't kill this damn thing alone, now can I?" the shepherd finished shaking his blade as he flicked his black spiked hair in a fashionable manner.

The beast swung a massive paw towards the comrade and roared in rage, but the black soldier jumped out of the way with ease,

"Well, technically I could kill it solo, but you being the newbie and all I thought you deserved some credit." The soldier avoided another deadly strike with a leap and spin, the husky mix joining him in silence. Both dogs now glared at the beast with stormy blue eyes, its eye closed due to the raging sand squall. Smirking in the sand-filled winds, the commander pulled out what appeared to be a small orb of light from a pouch on his shoulder, quickly consuming it with a great swallow. After doing so, his body began to morph into a more anthropomorphic figure, now standing on his back legs with ease. Following the swift transformation, the male grasped the grand buster-sword in his new human-like hands, and shifted into a fighting stance with a devious grin. His subordinate pulled out a similar sword, but it wasn't in any form of comparison towards the blade beside him; the blade of a true soldier. Both agents looked at each other with side glances and promptly nodded, both ready to advance upon their enemy.

Its cries dying down, the monster turned its head back to the dogs, one hand covering its bloodied eye hole with a rigid grip. It screamed into their faces, the males' fur blowing in the bodily wind from the behemoth's bowels, but both held their ground with ease, neither moving a muscle.

Rushing forward with a fierce battle cry, the charcoal painted soldier swung his sword downward towards the beast's chest, but in an instant the behemoth had caught the sword in its massive palm. Both enemies pushed their weight against one another in an attempt to overcome the other's force, but his comrade took the moment of distraction as an advantage and leapt into the air with a shout. A gruesome smack echoed through the winds of the desert as the colossus struck the husky square in the gut with its mighty hand, flinging him back into the dunes near unconscious, along with hurling his goggles clear into the desert's storm.

The ally soldier turned his head with a look of worry and fear,

"Soldier!" completely forgetting the battle he waged with the monster, the dark shepherd rushed towards his downed comrade with worry. Not a second later did fate strike with its venomous fangs.

The wounded inferior lifted his head to look at the monster that had wounded him, his facial features squinting in pain. Everything began to play in slow-motion as the shepherd ran towards him with his back turned to the monster, which threw the majestic sword the soldier had left in its grasp to the ground. The beast turned its face towards them, its gaze landing on the felled canine, who returned the stare with squinting eyes, which were now being battered by the sandy winds without his protective goggles. With a deep growl in the pit of its horrid bowels, the lids on the monster's remaining eye slowly opened, revealing the glowing red ball from earlier, but the wounded male never looked away. The crimson glare bored into the soldier's mind like the eyes of a killer, the soldier's own eyes growing wide in fear as the light intensified enormously. It formed its slobbery mouth into a devilish grin only known in Hell's merciless flames, the scythe like fangs in its mouth coming together in a sharp, cold movement.

Crunch.

A horrible scream of certain pain rang out through the blonde's ears, the sight of his comrade in the jaws of the nightmare of his reality almost too agonizing to be real. The beast flung the shepherd from side to side, having grabbed onto the soldier's muscular body with a smile. As the soldier's cries sounded through the storm's blustering winds, a deep and almost inhuman laugh erupted from the monster in a slow manner. Its horrid mirth echoed through the felled subordinate's heart and mind, the sight of his friend being murdered before his very eyes; he wanted to stand and help. How greatly he desired to rip the monster's heart out…but he was afraid. Fear had him chained to the ground like his ordered life. And he couldn't escape it.

A 'thud' was the next and almost last thing he had heard, the beast rumbling away in a haunting laughter. Almost resisting the urge to turn his bloodied head, the blonde male turned to see his comrade lying motionless on the ground a few yards away, blood covering every inch of his front body. Unable to speak, cry, or show any emotion, the still mobile soldier rose to his feet with a great struggle, but managed to drag himself over to his motionless comrade that reeked of the monster's breath. Sitting upright next to the body, he looked down at his superior with eyes full of fear and confusion, the blood of his friend sinking into his mind like a toxic and incurable poison.

The dark and booming cackle of the behemoth rolled through the sandstorm in a haunting echo like the devil enjoying a joking, sick comedy.

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**I do not own any of the _Square Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats_&_Dogs/James Bond_ films. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's (very very few though) and the story's plot line.**


	2. Just Like Me

Chapter one of this insane fanfic.

I appreciate all alerts, reviews, faves, and the support all of my readers give me. You all fuel my writing and inspiration and drive :D

_Thanks, guys. You're awesome_

**I do not own any of the _Square_ _Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats&Dogs/ James Bond_ movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's (very very few though) and the story's plot line.**

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Setting: D.H.P.A HQ

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_Chapter 1: Just Like Me_

11:14 ETZ

The scent of hazelnut coffee wafted in the rather large office filling it like an enigmatic aroma, but as mysterious as the foreign smell was, it was in fact relaxing and serene. Grabbing the handle of the cup daintily with two paw-fingers and a third to balance it, a handsome black and white husky sat behind a mahogany desk sipping his coffee with delight. His silver eyes glued to the tedious paperwork he had just started for the day, and to his left a stack twice as large. But he enjoyed it; the feeling of accomplishment was a feeling no one could award you with. To achieve it, one must work and strive on their own. He was an independent soul, and enjoyed every bit of it, just as he enjoyed his hazelnut coffee.

A sudden beep emitted from the wide screen-cast television to his left, an image of another agent, a thin alabaster Saluki female, appeared on the screen as if on a video conference, "Superior Raines. We have a reel from the broadcast awaiting your viewing, sir."

The husky sighed, slightly vexed by the disturbance, "The human news does not pertain to my division, subordinate. Why do you bother me with such palaver?" he said in a dull tone, his coffee becoming cold. The Saluki, however, persisted.

"Sir, I'm afraid it is completely relevant to your district of command." the tenor of the inferiors voice held a small tinge of hesitance, not desiring to argue with a dog of much higher status.

The superior finally looked up at the Saluki broadcasting from the other end, though his stare actually had some concern in it, though very little. His eyes made it clear he was waiting for an answer, and it better be worth his valuable time.

"It's concerning one of your agents."

The husky's eyes widened, confused and perplexed, _Our agents on the human news? Not something you hear every day. _ He thought to himself, and with a wave of his paw, the Saluki nodded her head and the reel began to play. On the screen a video of the human news began to role, revealing a rooftop in the downtown slums area. Human boys could be heard shouting and whooping, some fingers could be seen pointing towards one of the rooftops. On the rooftops, two dogs could be seen hopping from one to the next at incredible speeds, never letting up. Though the humans were obviously unaware, the husky could tell this was a pursuit. The pursuer unknown to him, but the pursued… was in fact one of his top agents. Her lean cream and pink body agilely leaping from roof to roof, and ice blue eyes staring straight ahead with complete focus and determination.

The husky sighed, smiling a bit. He waved his paw again and the video cut off, revealing the Saluki again, "Have a squad prepared and at the ready for the agent when she calls." He said looking away for a moment, checking to see how much coffee was left in the maker. Giving the superior a look of confusion and doubt, she questioned him with a flustered voice, "B-But sir. Shouldn't we send the squad immediately to assist the agent?" The husky did not turn in his swivel chair to look at his inferior, but instead grinned out of sight,

"That won't be necessary, commander; she's no field agent. Besides––" his voice faded a bit on the last part before he finished, "She's like another me." the superior said this with a rather charming smile painted on his lips. The Saluki saw the smile and was immediately enamored with her superior. Blushing she bowed her head and the signal cut off.

The husky grinned and looked back down at his paperwork, grabbing his coffee once again to sip it exquisitely. But when the coffee touched his tongue, the male shivered and frowned, "I didn't even drink half of it…" his ears drooped and the superior went into a slight relapse before one of his attendees found him in a state of depression.

10:20 ETZ

The smell of sweat perspired in the damp air of the downtown street, while the sounds of ambulances and fire trucks roared through the alleys of every corner street. The feeling of being cramped whether you were in a crowd or in an open space never letting up, but after a few years of tight space it makes you realize how much you take the country life for granted.

Little by little, his breathe slowed to light huffs, and inch by inch he crawled on his paws to advance towards the enemy; the fire within the forest. His heart pounded like the rumbling of the city streets, and soon the male began to worry if his boisterous booming could be heard.

_Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum…_

His deep red fur stood on edge, and soon became soaked in perspiration, but the concentration in his wide, aquamarine eyes was as flawless as a wolf stalking its prey. Straining to keep his tail from swooshing along the littered pavement in the back alley, he kept it above the ground like an arm extended to the sky. He knew he looked silly, but it wasn't the pose that mattered––it was the outcome that showed the true reward.

Rearing back on his hind legs, positioning himself to pounce at any minute, he opened his mouth with a wide grin showing his sharp white canines. He breathed in a pound of air and waited for the perfect moment to release it all. _Victory is mine!_

"Nice try, Reno, but you're gonna _have_ to do better than that."

He released all of the air in a loud obnoxious sigh, his jet black goggles falling into his face, "Aww, come on! I was _this_ close!" he groaned while using his two paw-fingers to measure how close he was to scaring the observant female. Adjusting his goggles, he turned to follow her as they walked out of the alleyway. The black, chocolate, and white painted Border collie trotted ahead of the young male, a devious smile playing across her thin lips. Above youth, but below true adult, her age displayed by her act of keen composure, she was a young dog with great skill and a rare spirit: one that never dwindled in strength no matter the conditions.

The ginger dog trotted up next to her, still falling behind a bit, "Ugh, where are we going now?" he growled; a sigh escaping his dark lips knowing that they were probably going to be patrolling another boring sector that was, believe it or not, completely safe and danger-free.

She grinned at the immature teen, never seeming to feel malice towards the adventurous red-head, "Sector B-6, the division we were to patrol, has been reallocated to another squad––" she said moving every spotted paw delicately over the cracks in the pavement.

Reno grinned widely, "So that means––?" his face beamed, and his effete attempts to hide it were easily overcome. The female sighed with a smirk, "Looks like we'll be heading to headquarters early today," she said while stopping at a crosswalk.

The crimson dog whooped a cry of excitement before racing straight into traffic during the red light, completely unaware of the screeching cars trying to avoid hitting him. The Border collie gasped in shock as he made a straight bee-line to the other side of the intersection, and watched in complete astonishment. When the male hopped onto the sidewalk of the other side, he turned to bark back at the female, "Come on, Lockhart! Don't have all day!" he smiled with an unconvinced smirk, wagging his tail in the air.

Sighing with relief, the Border collie daintily walked with a bounce through the massive wreckage of the cars in the intersection, finally reaching the other side to join Reno in his lengthy run back to the HQ.

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Thanks for reading!

X

Luxuria


	3. Army of One

Chapter DOS!

*noms waffles omnomnomnommels~*

******I do not own any of the _Square_ _Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats&Dogs/ James Bond_ movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's and the story's plot line.**

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Sector B-6 : Downtown Slums

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_Chapter 2: Army of One_

10:31 ETZ

In an alleyway not so far away, the sound of laughing and growling rose steadily from the crevice in the city edifices. However, this part of town was not as lovely as the average city Broadway, but rather a gross slum with very few noble people inhabiting its malodorous roads.

"Hey there, Sweetheart," a seductive Doberman sang from his reeking mouth as he approached the smaller female, who stepped back into a chain-link fence blocking her only escape. Her light cream fur and pinkish contrast gave her the appearance of a weak female, but it was under the fur that showed her true character. Her body was strongly built, though slim in appearance, and the calm attitude towards the situation proved she had experience in the streets.

Her menacing glare and quiet demeanor lowered the Doberman's confidence sharply, but his arrogant nature overpowered the scowl easily, "Hey, Baby, don't be like that. We were just trying to have some fun." The large Doberman grinned as a jet black borzoi and a tan Rottweiler flanked him on either side each snickering with a malicious cackle. The female stood her ground as she dropped her head with a 'defeated' sigh, a smirk suddenly playing across her devious lips,

"_tch._"

With a snap, the female leapt into the air and over the mutts' heads with ease, their expressions suddenly morphing into confusion, "What the––" the Doberman barked as the female kicked off of the brick wall beside her rolling through the air like a trained acrobat, and landing on the other side of the fence. She recovered her stance with ease and turned to smirk at the males before running off. The outfoxed dogs, dazed from the tactics of the obviously trained female, could not believe what happened, and the two subordinates of the leader turned to look at him, one even trying to talk him out of pursuing the girl. An aura of rage erupted from the Doberman's body like a savage animal as he screamed in frustration, ramming into the fence and breaking through. The inferiors watched in both horror and amazement as they soon began to follow in his lead, continuing their chase.

Ducking behind a dumpster, the female took a moment to catch her breath, swiftly entering a code into the silver collar around her neck,

"Subordinate, come in. Subordinate!" she quietly shouted into the mysterious device before cursing and cutting off the signal, groaning with frustration. _Typical,_ she thought.

Her ears suddenly shot up as she heard a strange vibration coming from the garbage dumpster she was leaning against. She rotated her head up towards the sky to see the face of the monster from before, his black and tan features now filled with arrogant pride. He lunged at me, but missed as I dashed off down the other alleyways. Landing on his four feet quite gracefully, he waited for his underlings to take their own paths to barricade the female, but he took the lead and raced after his once lustful and now vengeful desire.

Never once tripping, the female snaked her way through every crevice she could find, luckily never finding herself in a dead end or another troublesome group of canines. An unnatural breeze blew her fur around as she turned to see a giant fan blowing at high speeds almost knocking her down, but the fan wasn't what caught her attention: a blur of black raced by her side and whizzed past, halting her advance. Her speed never dwindled, and she merely leapt over the borzoi with ease, only to find herself pitted against the Rottweiler from before. A simple and serious visage still acted like a mask on her narrow face, but her point ears fell flat against her head, and her large wolf-like tail stood on end.

_Right._

The borzoi lunged first, attempting to confuse the female from behind, but he was quickly wronged. The female spun around grabbing the male's neck with a merciless clutch allowing her teeth to sink deeply into the black fur. Turning on a dime, the female landed a blow to the Rottweiler with a kick of her leg, causing him to lean back on his haunches instinctively. Smirking, she flung the entire mass of the borzoi straight at the unsuspecting Rottweiler, whose senses were dulled greatly by the previous blow. With a large thud, both males were sent flying against the near wall, each knocked out cold.

With a flick of her tail, the female raced off down another street, which was a little too narrow for her liking. She squeezed herself through like an octopus into a miniature jar, but in all honesty, the octopus could've done better. Seeing a light at the end of the long tunnel, she fought against the pressure of the wall, her four thin legs getting tangled constantly. As she stuck her snout out of the tunnel, she immediately fell out, luckily landing on all fours. She looked to her left to find herself in a small square area, with the only exit being the small crevice she had just escaped.

As she turned her head to the right, she found herself pinned against the wall, a clawed paw gripping her neck. She scratched at the arm holding her profusely, but the grip was too strong and her strength was escaping her with every exhale fleeing her mouth. The Doberman glared at her with crimson eyes, smiling a bit, but it was quickly replaced with a stern visage, "You're not a dog from the streets; I'm no fool, so don't even try lying." The female would have been spitting lies in his face if it weren't for her vocal chords being strained, but the male continued with a satisfied look in his eyes, "However, I can tell you're no field agent either. What division are you?" he shouted tightening his grip. The female glared into his eyes, baring her teeth in resistance. He roared and threw her against another wall with a sickening crack emanating from the impact.

"Useless wench––" he cursed as he stepped back onto all fours, taking his time approaching the collapsed dog, who began stirring under the rubble that had fallen on top of her in the collision with the wall. The Doberman smirked evilly, "Now that's more like it," he sung licking his lips. The female stood on all fours, her body battered, but rather intact despite the stomach-turning incident. She cocked her head to her left spitting out some blood, never letting her ice blue eyes leave the male's dark crimson ones.

Suddenly, a vexing noise erupted from the male's leather collar, a voice emitting from its intel-wear. The female's eyes gave a look of perplexity, _an agent? But why would he attack me?_ she thought as the Doberman turned his head to speak into the collar. Thinking more about an escape plan than anything else, the female didn't catch the conversation that went on between the collar and its host.

The Doberman turned his pointed head back to the female, "Now, where were we?" he turned to see an empty space with nothing but rubble scattered on the dirty ground. Sighing angrily, he traced his eyes up the weak wall to see the girl jumping onto the rooftop and out of sight. Roaring louder than a lion, he copied her actions in this never-ending pursuit.

The dog reached the roof and began to run across the flat surface of the buildings until she saw the small wall separating her from life and a deadly fall. She turned around to see the Doberman reach the roof and advance quickly, and without thinking, she leapt over the space of emptiness looking down to see the traffic about a hundred feet below her. She landed on the opposite rooftop only to be greeted once again with the devil himself. She let out her first growl of the day, but it wasn't going to end here. Racing past him, she leapt from one rooftop to the next, the male following a hair length behind. Then it came. A gap between two buildings so large it had to be impossible to jump for even a horse. The she-dog smirked, knowing the area well, and ready for her makeshift plan to come into action.

She picked up speed readying herself for the canyon's jump, the Doberman behind her wide-eyed, aware that the jump could not be made, but he refused to end the chase giving up. His speed increased and soon he was running alongside his enemy, the jump now a competition of the better dog. However, the female never turned to look at him, but as the end of the line came faster than ever, she gave it her all, running at top speed. The two dogs were less than five feet from the jump, and at this rate, the leap seemed possible.

Another rooftop away, a small boy had begun filming the event, amazed at the dog's competitiveness and rivalry. He shouted to his friends as they began to sit around watching with incredulity, never having seen such a spectacle before in their young lives.

Both dogs' muscles breathed fire as they felt the open air come up from the empty street below. The Doberman smirked as he felt the female brush past him a bit. He gave the finally push off of the ground from his front legs, and prepared to leap off using his back ones, ready to surpass the female with ease. His back legs hit the edge of the roof slowly, and using every ounce of strength in his muscular built body, he took flight off of the ground and began to soar over the human-made canyon. He smirked and turned his head to look back at the female, but his eyes suddenly widened. The female had leapt down towards the ground. _Is she insane? No dog can survive that fall!_ he thought while jumping in midair.

Closing her eyes, the light colored dog began to slowly flip in the air in a free fall, the ground approaching fast. She snapped her paw-fingers, immediately causing a blue light to surround her body, emanating from her paws the most. Bringing her flip to a close, she landed on the ground on all four paws crouching a bit to relieve the pressure. She was completely unscathed. The Doberman looked down at her in utter disbelief, and she returned it with a small smirk, flicking her tail in a sassy manner. The Doberman was halfway across the opening when he began his descent downward towards the ground. Yelling the rest of the way down, he faceplanted straight into a car window, breaking into the car and causing the alarm to go off.

The female wore a serious face mixed with emotions of both apathy and concern. She didn't want the dog to be dead, considering the fact that they might want to interrogate him, being an 'agent' and all. She approached the car to see the male groaning in pain, twitching from the grand impact. She snorted involuntarily, and entered a code into her collar, "Guardian to HQ, I have incarcerated an assaulter, permission to request assistance in Sector B-6." She spoke calmly into the collar.

A computerized voice replied "Permission granted" and the signal shut off. Clicking her collar once more to lock it properly, the female saw a few lights in the corner of her eye. Looking back up at the injured male, she noticed sparks emitting from his collar, along with a dark smoke rising from it. She paid no mind to it, knowing a fire would not likely be caused by such a short fuse, but something else tickled her ear.

"Captain!" a voice rang from down the street, and the female turned to see a yellow figure trotting towards her. Her glare was right back on her face. A muscular yellow lab briskly approached the 'captain', carrying two hot dogs, "Hey! I got us lunch." He smiled with a bigger than big smile. The female turned her cold blue eyes up towards the giant, crinkling her nose as she did so,

"You overgrown, lazy oaf!" she spat in his face, the male shrinking back a bit. "Where the hell have you been?" she roared into his face. "I just fought off three dogs, and one that put up one bloody fight, and _you_ got yourself lunch!" the captain was fuming, and her fur was bristling like a porcupine. The yellow lab looked lightly hurt by the comment, but pretty much decent,

"Actually I got _us_ lunch, just so you know…yeah, um––" he didn't get to finish as he was sharply cut off by the she-dog again,

"I swear, Villiers, of all the dogs to be paired up with, it just had to be you! Coul you at least do your job?" the male stared at her with a curious puppy face before turning to see the destroyed car and mangled Doberman,

"Wow, wish I could've gotten some of the action!" he said smiling and looking at the car in awe. The girl began to rub her temples, and close her eyes as she calmed down a bit,

"You can't even begin to imagine." She sighed as she continued her personal treatment. The sweet lab looked at her with simple eyes, sitting on his haunches holding the two delicious looking hot dogs in either paw giving each a glance,

"Hot dog?" he gestured the smaller one to the female, considering how females like to eat and how big his appetite was over hers. The captain opened her eyes to look at him then the hot dog. She snatched the huge one from his other paw and began to eat, honestly, like a male chewing with her mouth open and eating it while she walked past him. The male watched with wide eyes, but smiled once again and began to eat his and joined her walk back to the car.

11:27 ETZ

As time passed, multiple field agents had shown up in time to arrest the male and fix the damages that had occurred at the scene. The captain from earlier took two pairs of cuffs and began to slap them on the now conscious Doberman, "You and your friends are under arrest in name of the Guardian Corp of the K-9 I.S. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will, and can be used––"

"Shut your trap, traitor." The criminal interrupted, barking into the female's face, causing her to stiffen, the tone of the male's voice suddenly turning ice cold. "I'll make sure you're the first to be slaughtered––" the male venomously whispered, his words sinking into the female's mind like a panging toxin. Her frown saddened, but she quickly brushed it off, her usual self back in place.

A yellow figure soon joined her side smirking with a puzzled face, "Man, what a character!" he said watching the dogs take the Doberman away. This only caused the female to become vexed even more,

"What do you mean 'character'? The only character I see here is the one who doesn't do his job!" she roared in his large face, blowing up even more than before. The lab just smiled and scratched the back of his head with his forepaw, "Sorry, Light." He choked out while grinning with his usual cheesy smile; this only pissed the female off more. She cursed under her breath and began to sulk towards HQ the yellow oaf following behind like an oversized shadow.

It was quiet for a few minutes before a soft yet bellowing voice broke the silence,

"Can we get something to eat?" the lab said with a genuine voice and a questioning look on his face. The female began to tear her fur out violently as she started screaming curses to no one in particular, the lab watching worriedly as the day dwindled into noon.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading!

X

Luxuria


	4. What's Happenin', NORA?

_Chappah Triste~_

Also, all those in favor of Nutella say "AAAAYYYYEEEEE!"

_******I do not own any of the **__Square_ _Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats&Dogs/ James Bond_ movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's and the story's plot line.

* * *

_D.H.P.A HQ_

* * *

___Chapter 3: What's Happenin', NORA?_

_11:14 ETZ_

"What did you say, fleabag?" a shout could be heard emitting from down the hall of the HQ, causing many heads to perk up and shudder from the uproar. In one of the metal backrooms, four dogs sat around at a table enjoying their break… or at least trying to.

"Oh nothing, I was just saying how _girly_ your hair looks today." A small blonde cat with spiked hair piped up from across the table puffing his chest out as he did so. His usually small pointy ears flat like an airplane's wings, he set his elbow on the table looking up at the dog he was insulting.

"You little––" a growl bubbled from within the silver Spitz's throat. Dark Blue highlights streaked through the fur on his head and neck, feathers hanging from earrings in his pointy ears dangled with great elegance. His beautifully curled tail was black-tipped and bristled with rage from the small blonde's comment. He slammed his two front paws on the table top, snarling at his offender.

Sitting at the same table was a burly Rottweiler with a flamingly colored Mohawk, and a black Bombay cat; both rubbing their temples from the argument between their comrades. The female cat's eye began to twitch in anger before she growled in disdain,

"Will you two knock it off?"

The surprisingly loud roar caused both boys to turn and look at the cat with wide eyes, baffled by her small yet strong size. Throwing a quick glare at one another, both of the agents sat in their chairs again, each resting their head on a paw.

Now at ease, the cat settled down in her chair and began fixing her accessories and collar while the large muscular dog next to her snorted and turned his gaze to a door slowly opening. A great yellow Labrador strutted into the room, the beanie on his head fitting nicely over his ears,

"What's happenin', NORA?"

His tone rather loud and spirited, he was greeted with a large smile from the cream colored cat, and more modest smiles from the others.

"Snow! Where've you been?"

The cream cat jumped out of his seat and gave the lab a high-five followed by the Spitz sharing a fist pound with the dog,

"Just bagged a couple of baddies. They were no match for the _fist_!"

He said this with a haughty tone while pumping his paw-fist and flexing his strong biceps. The black cat shook her head as the two younger boys began to ask him all sorts of questions about the mission. She turned to look at the male next to her and smiled a devious smile,

"How much of it do ya think is true, Gadot?"

A small laugh escaped while she stated this, and after a short pondering pause her subordinate replied with a small grin,

"I think you're asking the wrong question there, 'Breau," He closed his eyes while pointing towards the same door that Snow had walked though. "How many punches do you think he'll get from Lightning?"

Lebreau gave him a quizzical look before turning her head to the doorway, where, in fact, a familiar angsty dog stood directly behind Snow, listening to his entire tale, while tapping her foot in frustration. Her "eyebrow" began to twitch in great annoyance as the moron continued on with his notorious story. Tired of the tale, she cleared her throat 'subtly' causing the Labrador to turn face to face with her menacing scowl,

"Oh hey, Light! Erm, didn't know you hung around here, hehehe…"

The lab began to stutter and fidget while the eyes of the female bore into his soul. Through his relentless stutters and "um"'s, the captain pulled a fairly large pack of papers out from behind her back and held them loosely in front of the Lab,

"I found some paperwork on your desk that was, bluntly, overdue."

She looked at him with her usual apathetic stare as he was obviously caught off-guard from not being punched straight in the snout.

"Oh, _those_! Yeah, they were due a few days ago-"

"Months."

The female corrected with a monotonous voice, however, Snow was clearly shot-down.

"Right… I guess time just caught up with my schedule." The Labrador scratched the back of his head as usual. His comrades behind him watched with curiosity, but suddenly a light sigh escaped Lightning's muzzle.

"-But I'm going to be nice today." She said while gesturing her hand freely. This caused everyone in the room to have wide-eyed faces, but Lebreau and Gadot felt a bit worried. Snow's face lit up as he was about to drown Light with "thank-you"'s, but his captain continued.

"I went around the office and offered that you would do _everyone_'s paperwork for the week."

A few negative "oooo"'s came from the young males' mouths behind the Labrador, followed by a snicker from Lebreau and a grin from Gadot, who was now relieved of a week's worth of pointless paperwork.

The burly "oaf" slowly slouched and lightly took the small stack of paperwork from the stern female, knowing that a mountain sized pile was awaiting him at his desk.

Just as Lightning was turning away, the plasma television attached to the wall corner flashed on causing everyone to swivel their heads to watch. Light turned to quickly glance at the screen, soon recognizing the rather familiar rooftop chase from a few hours earlier.

"Whoa! You really did get some action, Light!" the Labrador shouted proudly, totally unscathed by what just occurred.

"I didn't know that was you in that crazy chase," the black cat said while turning to look at the cream dog in awe.

Lightning frowned; the words the Doberman had said to her flooding back into her mind like a replayed scene.

Suddenly, the intercom came on in a fuzzy _bzzt _before words emitted from the speakers,

"Agent Farron, please report to Raines' office immediately."

Sighing heavily, the slim female exited the coffee lounge without a word.

The very second Lightning left the room, all eyes turned to Snow with evil smirks and raised eyebrows. The Labrador turned to see all of their faces before getting the message.

"I am not doing _any_ of your paperwork!"

"Awww!" escaped from everyone's mouths, with the exception of Gadot who leaned back in his chair,

"Hey man, you were asking for it. You pester her like it's a job!" The Rottweiler closed his eyes with a grin.

Snow leaned against the wall with a straight face,

"Hey! It's not like I mean to! I don't pester her; she's just annoyed by me!" He stated sincerely, his innocent face clearly oblivious to how he acted to Light.

"Well who isn't?" Yuj said with a snicker, earning himself a shove from Snow,

"But why does she hate me so much? Come one, what have I ever truly done to her?"

"Um, you existed?" Lebreau meowed while popping open a feline-soda.

Snow sighed while crossing his burly arms,

"Man… I guess you're right. Well, at least there's just one of her, right?"

"Yeah! I can barely survive one Lightning!" Maqui chirped in with a huge grin while mimicking Snow and leaning against the wall too.

Snow grinned and gave the blond cat a noogie, making his goggles get messed up, "I can't imagine _another_ Farron." The yellow male said before turning his head to watch the television again.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

X

Luxuria


	5. Two Troubled Souls

Chapter Four!

...I think I'm going to do shout-outs for each chapter...I'm running outta things to say ^^'

SHOUT OUT!

to **_Lightning Catastrophe_**

For her story, _The_ _Only_ _Exception_, and folks, it really is an exceptional piece. Slap me for the pun, but it truly is. I love this story. A Cloud and Lightning fic, it will really warm your heart, and the author's a real trooper in writing! Plus, this girl's a total sweetheart :3

Lightning Catastrophe kept me on my feet when I was first writing this story, and her works inspired me to give my own crazy ideas a shot. Thank you Lightning (Lockheart) :)

_Now go give her some love 3_

******I do not own any of the _Square_ _Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats&Dogs/ James Bond_ movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's and the story's plot line.**

* * *

_Chapter 4: Two Troubled Souls_

The door was slowly opened by two guard dogs allowing the light furred female to walk into the superior's room with her head held high. When the doors shut behind her, the agent stood promptly a few feet from the main desk in the nicely decorated office, the chair behind it turned around,

"You summoned me, sir?" she said in a soldier-like voice waiting patiently for a response.

The chair slowly spun around to reveal a handsomely groomed, black and white husky holding a black coffee mug, his face radiating with charm and his eyes as blue as a gem. His dashing looks and smoldering smirk would easily swoon any other female, but Lightning's stern attitude and rather oblivious personality left her unaffected by his attractive features.

She began to feel irritated with the lack of words from the superior, due to her impatient nature and easily annoyed self. She couldn't wait any longer,

"Well?" she growled lightly, not caring to anger her higher authority.

The husky merely smiled before laughing a bit,

"Patience Farron. I'm just giving you enough recovery time." He said while gracefully waving his paw in the air.

Confusion fell upon the agent as she questioned him again,

"Recovery for what, sir?" she said in a quiet and deep voice.

Blinking a bit, the superior looked at Lightning with surprised eyes,

"Why, for the effect of my killer looks to wear off! Most women need a moment-"

The light-furred female frowned, glaring at the 'seductive' male,

"Sir, is there a reason you called for me _besides_ to embarrass yourself?"

The husky sighed sadly and began to grab a case on the floor,

"Well you're no fun. However, I did in fact summon you for a proper reason—"

He set the silver case on the desktop in front of him with a thud, turning it so it faced towards the female,

"It's concerning your little rooftop adventure today—"

The case popped open to reveal a slightly burnt collar, the wires all tangled inside the metal capsules around the buckle. Lightning quickly recognized it as the Doberman's collar from earlier that morning, but her face still wore a look of confusion; she didn't understand why it was of any importance to her superior, let alone herself.

"You obviously recognize it from your previous assignment, and you must know by now that this is no ordinary collar. It is, in fact, an agent's—however, not one of ours."

The husky turned in his chair to stare out the office window that looked out onto the other smaller offices in the HQ, a serious face adorned his usually charming visage,

"My P.A. are looking into it as we speak, but the history of the agent is simply nonexistent; no name, no date of birth, not even a security number."

Lightning's face grew stern with every statement from the superior. She was right earlier; this wasn't just some street criminal.

The Husky continued, this time turning to look at his subordinate,

"Due to your _clever_ plan to capture the target, our only source of information about this secret agency was destroyed on impact-"

Lightning cringed as she looked at the mangled piece of leather in the case, frowning in disdain as she glowered at it.

"Though its files are corrupted, the style and version of the equipment is unknown to me and my team. If another criminal is caught with a similar collar, we will be able to link the Doberman to the newfound lapel."

Lightning began to grow tired of her subordinate, as talking was never her forte. She would rather be fighting on the field chasing down criminals, but of course the Husky wasn't going to make things any easier for the female.

"On a final note, I'm bringing in a squad from another division-" the husky rested his elbow on his desk as he spoke to his agent,

"This is not the first odd occurrence we've fumbled upon this week, and I feel we will need assistance in tracking down this _issue_."

Lightning quickly shot her eyes towards the Husky with annoyance,

"Sir, I don't think another team will be necessary-"

"Nonsense, Farron. Besides, I'd like to see some old faces again, and we're in desperate need of experienced players on the field. Ones that can get the job done without any detours."

Though it was subtle, Lightning knew the last sentence was aimed towards her mishap earlier, and a growl began to bubble in the back of her throat. Holding it back, she bowed her head in respect as her superior dismissed her, and quickly shoved her way through the guards at the door, which eagerly got out of the angered female's way.

Flashing lights blazed past as the transport vessel raced through the underground at incredible speeds, the unusually large size of the craft allowed for a smooth, turbulence-free ride for the many passengers.

A small and lean, black and tan Shiba Inu hopped from one section of the ship down to the end, somehow carrying two canine-sodas in her grinning mouth. She hopped onto the very last seat next to another canine, and offered a soda to the dog next to her,

"Hey, tall and gruesome! Want one?"

She said with a huge smile, as she looked at her subordinate. The wolf was much larger than the Shiba, and had a dark black coat in addition to a large jet black tail. His small mane on the back of his head was a wild mess, and stuck out everywhere, but was quickly hidden under the tattered red cape attached to his back. A strange black glove with golden armor adorned his left paw, but it was obviously shaped for a dragon's claws more than a dog's simple paw.

He turned his crimson eyes towards the smaller female with a simple, almost innocent look, but only replied with a effortless grunt. The Shiba became irritated as she sighed heavily while opening the soda for him,

"Ugh, you're such a baby sometimes. I mean really, Vince, what would you do without me?"

She handed the soda to the rather daunting wolf as he daintily took it from her with a nod of the head, but he was still hesitant in trying the foreign drink.

"How much looonnngggerr?" the Shiba stressed out as she leaned back in her seat.

"Less than an hour. We'll be there in no time." A sweet voice replied from a beautiful caramel and white Collie sitting near the Shiba Inu and wolf. A soft, red ribbon wrapped around her gentle neck, forming a fairly large bow in the back. Her charming eyes squinted as she smiled at the restless, young female; her pure nature never rude or callous to others.

The calm voice stilled the young female, as she decided to look out the back window of the vessel and wait patiently. Vincent nodded his head in thanks to the Collie, who returned the nod with a cute smile.

Ice blue eyes stared solemnly out the window as slow breath fogged up the glass with every exhale. The blonde muzzle of the quiet dog never spoke for the entire trip, but his serious face made it clear he was deep in thought. His body was wolfishly shaped, both lean and muscular, and his light-colored fur shaped his muscles nicely. Though not thin-furred, his coat wasn't as long as his wolf subordinate, and it kept him at a fair temperature wherever he went. Jet black fur raced from the bottom of his paws almost to his shoulders and thighs, his long tail and ears also tipped black. His underbelly and bottom muzzle were a lighter blond than the base of the coat, but the difference wasn't drastic and could only be noticed up close. Finally, crazy spiked blonde hair topped his head neatly, but the hairstyle seemed to suit the dog perfectly.

Another sigh escaped the male, this time catching the attention of the fair Collie sitting across from him. A worrisome expression flooded her face, having been troubled by the male's aloof attitude the whole trip, she turned towards him with a weak smile,

"Something bothering you?"

She asked with a kind voice, causing the blonde dog to tilt his head towards her with his usual cold blue eyes. He replied with a quiet grunt, but his face suddenly saddened, upset that he had worried his caring friend. He turned away with a poignant expression and continued to gaze out the window. The Collie's ears drooped as she whimpered quietly; her constant concern of her good friend getting the better of her,

_Why don't you ever let anyone in, Cloud?_

* * *

Thank you so much for reading, guys!

X

Luxuria


	6. Partners New and Old

Chapter Five-oooooOOO!

SHOUT OUT!

to _**TheRealPS**_

The _real_ reason I kept going. No joke, this reader has been my main and sole reviewer since day one on this story, and every word written in a review made me smile and write some more. Thank you so much. Without you, this story would have never been picked up again, nor would I have started my other stories at all :3

_Now...go give'm some love 3_

_******I do not own any of the **__Square_ _Enix_ characters, along with the ideas behind the _Cats&Dogs/ James Bond_ movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's and the story's plot line.

* * *

_Chapter 5: Partners New and Old_

The bright lights of the docking station glared down on the foreigners as they exited the transport vessel. A few smaller dogs came trotting over to begin refueling the ship for its next launch, lightly shoving past the passengers who were now taking in their surroundings,

"Now where do you suppose the others are?"

The small black and tan Shiba barked as she scanned the area for their other comrades. Cloud turned his head to a now arriving vessel pulling in next to theirs, however a large amount i of smoke poured out of the door's cracks, and angry shouts could be heard echoing from inside the ship.

"That would be them." The blonde dog mumbled as the door was kicked across the floor.

"See! I told you not to smoke, but did you listen? Noooo-"

"Oh, shut up you ol' hound!"

A large Rottweiler shouted first, coughing out smoke as he exited the destroyed vessel. Behind him came a yellow and white Pitbull mix, a single toothpick sticking out of the southern-accented male. Both began to argue about the ride and who did what wrong, but suddenly another figure came tumbling out of the ship,

"I swear this is the last trip I ever take with either of you!"

The high-pitched black and white cat dusted off his fur and red cape as he strode over to Cloud and his group, the crown on his head bouncing ever so slightly. His walk was more human than most cats were capable of, but walking on all fours was awkward for him.

"Bout' time I got away from those two goons! How've you all been without me?"

He opened his arms, in which the small Shiba Inu leapt into eagerly,

"Sith! I wish we could've switched places; my trip was so boring." Her tail wagged furiously as she playfully messed with Cait Sith's fur. Aerith smiled from the reunion, but slowly made her way over to the two bickering males a few feet away. Vince and Cloud felt a dread of worry. They both knew, despite her sweet nature, the strict and motherly side of Aerith could pounce at anytime, and now was a most likely time.

The growling of the two males didn't even cause her to flinch as she sweetly looked at both of the moody dogs,

"Cid. Barret." She said in a charming voice, but both males still growled at each other,

"Now, we're all glad you both made it back safely, but I think it would be best if we took this matter inside. So let's just calm down and take a deep breath." It was no surprise her angelic voice calmed the two men down a bit, however even her kindness couldn't completely douse the flames as the Rottweiler barked at the Pitbull mix,

"He _never_ listens to anyone but his own dim-witted mind!"

"Oh go bite yourself, you overweight war tank!"

Seeming as the conversation was going nowhere, Aerith calmly placed a hand on either shoulder of the two, her eyes squinting from her smile,

"Come on, let's just head back inside-"

Her ginger voice still had no affect on the short-tempered males, and the snarling continued. Suddenly, a shroud of darkness surrounded the Collie like a shadowy aura. Her face darkened as the males suddenly took notice of what was happening, and a deep stout voice emanated from the usually calm Collie,

"_Now._"

Both males looked at her in both shock and fear, never having seen Aerith so angry in all their long years, even sweat beaded their foreheads. They looked at each other and sighed, and as if on cue, the darkness faded instantly revealing a smiling Collie who patted both of them on the shoulder.

They all trotted back to the stunned group, who had witnessed the entire phenomena in complete shock, but Aerith acted as if it had never happened,

"They'll be expecting us in HQ. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

Her usual voice singing once again from her muzzle, the angelic image of Aerith now tainted with a dark-sided persona no one ever wanted to see again. She skipped through the sliding doors leaving her comrades standing in place, each trying to soak in what just happened. Cait Sith was the only who could still speak,

"So, where's Aerith, and who's the new chick?"

This earned him a good smack over the head from Barrett before they all continued through the doors into the HQ.

The atrium of the building was bustling with agents, both cats and dogs running around with paperwork and coffee, while all along the metal walls multiple flat-screens, each manned by an agent wearing headphones, were rendering data of all sorts.

"Well this is a bit _different_."

Barret projected before being bombarded by the familiar arguing voice,

"'a bit'? Hell, this place is like a yacht compared to our little dump station-"

"Cid..."

Barret cut him off before more curse words came flying out of the old timer's muzzle. The small group began to slowly make their way down the mainstream of action, heading towards the center where they could get a better visual. Completely unfamiliar with the technology around him, Vincent lowered his head towards the Shiba Inu next to him,

"Yuffie, what devices are those?"

His dark, yet innocent voice almost made the female laugh out loud, but she kindly helped him out,

"A whole variety of agent spyware! There's radars, heat sensors, tracking devices, the whole kit n' caboodle!" her little curled tail bounced as she walked, the wolf taking in his surroundings with a fascinated expression. Many agents he passed would glare at him, but most just stared in slight alarm, since wolves were now a rare specimen to find anywhere near a city. That's not including the fact that his breed got a bad rep from all of the false stories and rumors, but Vincent was used to it now, and just ignored the stares and whispers.

Pivoting his head to look around as well, Cloud's toned muscle and peculiar also caught the eyes of many of the agents, particularly the females. He turned to look at a few whispering girls who were not doing a very good job of keeping their whispers low, and every girl stopped and stared at him before squealing and running off. Completely unaware that they were talking about him, he merely shrugged the incident off and continued to walk forward, hundreds of thoughts flooding his mind,

_I wonder what kind of mission I'll be assigned to this time. Surely they didn't call me down here just to run a simple fool's errand?_

Suddenly, dogs began to gasp as they stepped to the sides of a nearby corridor the group was heading towards; large stomping noises echoing through the walls, and a blur of pink striking everyone's eyes . Fear struck most of the agents who had ducked out of the way, and soon Aerith and the rest of the group slowed to a stop, worried what the trouble was. Cloud, however, was still stuck in his thoughts as he walked casually in the direction of the corridor, straight towards the echoing sounds. The sounds growing louder followed by a low growling sound advanced straight for the larger husky-like dog, completely unaware of his current situation.

"_Smack"_

Cloud opened his closed eyes to the feeling of something against his chest. He looked down to see a light-pink furred dog rubbing her head in a state of anger. Gasps erupted from all around the room as every agent stopped to watch the rare spectacle.

Suddenly feeling a bit guilty, Cloud backed up a bit to give the dog some air, still too stunned to say anything (though he didn't understand why everyone had gotten so quiet). Pulling the paw from its head away, the dog looked up at him with piercing blue eyes that bored into his own. The synchronization of their two ice blue eyes sparked something, for the female's hateful expression calmed a bit, and Cloud was incapable of pulling his eyes away. They stood there for what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality had been less than ten seconds.

Abruptly possessing the urge to be polite, Cloud quickly tried to think of something to say, and realizing that the husky mix was a female made him feel even more compelled to apologize,

"Sorry, are you-"

He was cut off as the female shoved past him, her eyes filled with sorrow and hate as she stormed out the doors of the HQ, leaving the male standing awkwardly in the middle of the main room. He watched as she left, feeling bad for the less than harmless accident that had occurred. For some reason, he also felt to blame for her being upset, even though it was obvious she was angry before their unfortunate meeting.

Aerith quietly walked towards Cloud, approaching him with a sense of care as she saw the distraught face plaguing him while he watched the female trudge away in anger.

"Cloud? You okay?" She looked up at his saddened and confused face, but the sorrowful side of him barely showed.

Without a word, Cloud turned his head towards the many agents around him as he gave a stern glare to each with a hint of anger. As if on cue, all of the workers went back to work as if nothing had ever happened, and the tall male began to stride down the dark carpeted corridor with an even trot, the rest of the group following at a distance.

Yuffie hopped next to the still unmoving Aerith to check if she was okay, but the Collie's face wore the same expression Cloud had worn while watching the distressed female storm away. She had never seen him act this way before, and it worried her even more.

"Sir. The division you requested has arrived. Seeking permission for entry." The intercom blared into the black and white Husky's ears as he sipped his coffee.

"Permission granted. Oh, and bring me some more sugar."

The intercom muted with a beep and the doors to his office were swiftly opened by the earlier door guards, allowing the group of foreigners to enter warily. Quickly scanning the newcomers, the Husky was impressed with their appearances, each seeming to give off a professional aura of sorts,

"Welcome. Sit, please-" the superior leaned forward in his chair to have a better position for speaking, the agents in front of him sitting properly and obediently in a row. The Husky's brow relaxed as he was impressed by their unquestioned obedience,

"Division Seven. It's good to see you again. However, I've noticed a few new recruits are among you." His eyes directed towards Yuffie and Vincent in particular,

"I will not bore you with idle chat, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?"

He turned towards the wall to his right covered in flat-screen monitors, each now coming to life with information projecting from each. Pictures of dogs and identification shots flew across a screen, landing on the Doberman that had been detained earlier. The agents began to scan the data noted on the criminal, confused as to why so little information was available,

"By the looks of your faces, I can tell you know nothing about this character. He is in fact an agent, however, not one of ours."

Barret was the first to speak to the Superior,

"He certainly doesn't look familiar, and no 'unknown' newbie would have skills such as those. What division does he belong to?"

A frown covered the Husky's face as he turned his head to face the agents, a solemn look playing in his aquamarine eyes,

"We believe he doesn't belong to a _division_. Our people assume he may be a part of another _organization_."

The dogs faces became confused as a few started to whisper,

"Another organization? But that's impossible! The K-9 H.P.S. is the only system we've ever used. There's no one out there to support a whole 'nother organization."

"Which is why we believe it is a small, underground organization; an agency not yet public. But that is the least of our problems. The problem we face now is whether or not this agency is an ally or a _threat._"

The husky held his coffee and swashed the black liquid around, agitated by the thought of another uprising. He had a dire situation at hand with not a single lead, and he soon began to question why he even went to the trouble of bringing in other agents who didn't even know scrap about the issue.

"By the look of that guy's face, I'd say we're in trouble. I mean, just look at'em! It looks like he's never had a treat in his life!" Yuffie's inner spunk couldn't be contained as she yapped at the Husky. He turned his eyes to gaze at her with a questioning look, and soon his mind began to think,

_She's got a point. The guy looks more uptight than Lightning does on a bad day. He won't talk, cooperate, he won't even eat. This is quite the pickle we're in…_

As the Husky was pondering the next plan of action, a familiar light cream Pitbull entered the room with a fuss bigger than his ego, the guards attempting to stop him

"Now I'm pissed! First I have to come all the way down to this dump, and now they're asking me to use a urinal! A dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta—hey wait a minute…I know you!" the pitbull barked over at the Husky, who's head was still looking at the desktop in thought.

His thought bubble popped, the superior slowly raised his head to look at the intruding canine only to have his eyes grow wide. His face contorted into an upset, disgusted, and fearful expression all at the same time,

"No, Not you!"

"Raines, buddy! Still a wuss I see." The southern-accented male marched up to the Husky hiding behind his desk as he put his paws on the desktop, almost knocking over the superior's treasured coffee. The Husky grimaced as he suddenly felt horrible memories wash back into his poor mind,

"Yes, well, I see that your toothpick is still immune to that infernal jaw of yours…"

"Aw, come on, _Superior_, you aren't still mad that you're Number 2, are you?" the sing-songy voice from the Pitbull irritating the Husky greatly, but significantly interesting to the Rottweiler still sitting in formation, who was hardly attempting to hold back a chuckle,

"_Number 2_, sir?"

The Husky rubbed a temple with his free hand, the other guarding his coffee,

"Ah, yes. Cid, _Number 1_ here, was always nominated as the 'better Cid' back in my fieldwork days. Memories he won't let down, and reminiscences I prefer to forget."

The Pitbull put an arm around the tense superior's shoulder,

"Good times, ey, partner?"

The Husky sighed as he tried to pry away from the cream male,

"They partnered us just for that very reason… worst two years of my life."

Reaching through the hold of Cid 'Number 1', the Husky clicked a button on the computer open on his desk,

"These are the agents you will be working with. They know the area and the denizens, so listen to their advice wisely."

Pictures of agents replaced the previous screens, a line of seven agents projected on the large screen, each just a headshot with their names and code numbers below the picture.

Cloud slowly analyzed each of the agents, making sure to memorize their faces, but his attention soon turned towards a face in the middle. His eyes grew wide as he stared into the familiar ice cold eyes with a distant gaze, taking in the serious expression adorned on her face in the headshot. The eyes pierced him like daggers, but no pain was present. A different feeling flooded his body, a familiar feeling he had experienced with another agent once. A feeling of solidarity, a sense of pain and longing. He read her name slowly and felt the words fall from his tongue,

"_Lightning."_

Rock music blasted from the old-fashioned, rainbow jukebox that sat awkwardly in the work shop. Sitting around it were hundreds of metal scraps loosely spread across the walls, large propellers and jet engines hanging from the ceiling and strung to the upper landings. The metallic floors were cold, but the heat of the working embers and fire guns kept the entire room at a rather hot temperature.

A floppy-eared, black and tan Beauceron was working underneath a car removing parts, so that his tail and legs stuck out from the vehicle ineptly. He pushed himself out on the rolling cart with oil greased across his face, a wrench in his right paw,

"Yo, Z-man! Turn it down a bit, will ya?" he grumbled loudly, the music blasting in his ears.

"Alright ol'timer, I'll take it down a notch-" A large, black Belgian Shepherd shouted back over the music with a small grin. Without even looking away from the metal he was flaming, he took a wrench in his hand and casually threw it at the jukebox, hitting the machine with a 'clunk'. The music started to freeze up and die, as the box's colors flashed strangely.

"H-Hey! I just fixed the thing yesterday!" the Beauceron barked as he watched the jukebox worriedly, causing his partner to chuckle.

"I really got the bad end of the bone this time-" the yellow lab sighed as he continued to flip through the dust-covered paperwork of his fellow agents. Though it was no longer raining, the ground was still wet, and the lights of far-off cars reflected in small puddles on the sidewalk.

A slight roar of thunder rumbled in the distance, causing Snow to tilt his large head up towards the sky. Frowning, he soon became worried about getting the paperwork wet, and more trouble was the last thing this dog needed. He carefully placed the paper stack in his mouth without crushing it, and returned to his previous four-legged form.

After a minute of squeezing through rubble and thin alleyways, he finally reached a small and hidden building with windows and doors; a nicely painted sign hung above the cornered doorway, the words, _7__th__ Heaven_, decorated on the sign. Though the warm lights inside were on, the seats visible through the windows were empty along with the bar-seats. Not thinking about how late it was, Snow worried the café was closed and began to hurry towards the door, being extra careful not to drop the paperwork in his mouth.

Reaching the glass entrance door, he shifted onto his back legs, while grabbing the papers out of his mouth and holding them under his furry arm. A sigh of relief escaped his yellow muzzle when he successfully opened the door, but he was then confronted with a dog grabbing a bag behind the bar,

"Sorry, we're closed."  
The black, brown and white Border Collie called out nicely, not wanting to seem rude. Snow's floppy ears sunk even more as he began to turn back around and exit the café,

"It's fine. I'll be going-" the sighing Lab said as he pushed the door open.

"Wait! Tifa, I've got this one."

Snow turned his head to see a small, light (natural) pink and cream dog walking out from a back door and into the lit parlor. His surprised expression matched that of the Border Collie behind the counter, but at the same time he felt a bit relieved and thankful for the kind dog's offer.

Tifa looked at the small dog before slinging a messenger bag over her shoulder,

"Alright. Make sure you lock up before you leave."

The dog brushed past the yellow lab swiftly before trotting out the door, leaving Snow awkwardly standing in the parlor with the other female. After a minute of awkward silence, the smaller dog finally gestured her paws to all of the available seats,

"Sit anywhere you like."

Her warm smile made Snow's furred face blush faintly, before he nodded in thanks, and sat at a booth against the front window. Shifting to two feet as well, the female pulled out a small booklet and pen, her delicate pointy ears perking up,

"What can I get you?"

She grinned at the male sweetly, almost childishly as she patiently awaited an order. Snow had to look away to speak to her, as he set the large load of paperwork on the counter of the table,

"Um, I'll just have some hot tea, please."

Despite the simple order, the female still wrote it on the tablet before nodding her head and walking to the back of the bar. Snow couldn't help but watch the female's cute, curled tail sway when she walked, and had to yank his head back to the paperwork to focus on his work.

He had barely gotten through one page when the dog came back with two cups and tea pot for him. She set the cups down in front of the male before carefully pouring the liquid from the pot into one of the classic tea cups, not wanting to harm the paperwork he was working on.

She turned to leave before Snow's thoughts burst out of his muzzle,

"Would you like to join me?"

He quickly panicked, the words from his mouth sounding more demanding than he planned them to be,

_Great, I sounded like such a creeper! Come on, Snow! How could you do something as stupid as that—_

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the female smiling and returning to the table,

"I'd love to."

She daintily sat down in the seat, crossing her legs under the table neatly to her left. Her face was so youthful; she couldn't have been more than eighteen.

Snow's face grew red as he suddenly didn't have anything to say, all of the words taken straight from his mouth. He tried not to stare, but her beautiful face and blue eyes were hard to look away from. Thankfully, the female had something to say,

"I like tea too. It's always so soothing on days like these."

Snow's face lit up as he felt a bit of his courage come back to him,

"I know right! I wish they served it at work, but all they have is coffee, and I can't stand the stuff."

"Me too! It always makes my mouth feel gross, and it doesn't even help me wake up."

The smaller dog's petite tail silently wagged as she giggled from their conversation. Snow grinned too as he had completely forgotten about the paperwork in front of him,

"So, is _that_ from work?" she said in a surprised tone, amazed by the workload the Labrador had to complete.

"Oh this? Yeah, it's a long story, but I've got to finish it by the end of the week. I didn't want to get it wet, and it looked like it was going to rain, so I decided on a whim to come in here." The yellow Lab scratched the back of his head with his paw-hand, suddenly feeling guilty for making the female stay later on her work shift,

"I really am sorry about making you stay late."

The pink dog shook her head furiously with a smile, leaning over the table as she spoke,

"It's okay! Besides, I never meet any dogs who like tea more than coffee." Her smile forced him to smile, but he gladly did.

They talked for a few hours before the rain let up, and their tea cups were empty, but both were still hesitant to leave the cozy café. The female stood from her seat as she grabbed the cups and pot,

"I better get going; it's getting kind of late."

"Yeah, I should probably be heading out as well."

Grabbing his papers, Snow quickly walked over to the back door and held it open for the female to take the cups in. Looking up at the male, the female laughed lightly and thanked him for the surprise chivalry. It soon became a game as Snow would try to find any way possible to help the female as she would politely turn him down, or they would both end up laughing at his silly stunt to help her walk two feet across the floor.

Shutting off the last of the lights, Snow held the door open for the small husky-like dog as she thanked him again for the hundredth time. They both stepped outside under the tarp above the door before Snow's blunt conscience spoke up again,

"I-I'll walk you home, I mean, if you want me to, um-"

The female began to giggle as the big oaf made a fool of himself through the stuttering and fumbles, but simply spoke through his broken speech,

"Do you know where I live?"

The Lab quickly stilled as he felt a wave of confusion hit him,

"Um, no, actually I don't." he began to rub the back of his head again, feeling at a loss for words.

_Way to go. You offer her a walk home when you don't even know where she lives…_

The small dog didn't stop smiling though, and began to walk in the direction of "home"

"Good. Just making sure you weren't a stalker."

Snow's eyes grew a bit big as he watched her slow and jaunty walk, suddenly shouting softly,

"Even after tea, you still don't trust me!"

The male laughed as he gated over to the side of the female, both smiling as they shifted onto all fours. With the paperwork strapped to his collar, Snow could talk with the girl without a mouthful of paper getting in the way, but that wouldn't protect it from the rain. A closer and deeper rumble of thunder echoed through the late night air as both dogs looked up towards the black sky with big eyes.

"So, uh, which way's home?"

Snow looked over at the female before smiling, the smaller dog giggling in return. They continued walking in silence before an intentional cough emitted from the burly Lab,

"I'm Snow, by the way."

The smaller female's ears twitched a bit before she replied with a sweet grin,

"_Snow_? That's an unusual name for a male." She said as she laughed a bit, not being rude, just playing with the confident male,

"I know, doesn't quite fit the muscle and color, but my mother liked snow…so I guess that's my excuse."

They both chuckled at the lame reasoning behind the name, but the familiar sweet voice subtly changed the subject,

"So, _Snow_, where do you work?"

Though her question was sincere, the male was completely thrown off guard. His job was confidential, and had to be kept a secret, but at the same time he didn't want to lie to her. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up inside the male's head,

"Oh, I just work downtown. Office-type building."

"I see. That would explain the paperwork."

She grinned as she turned her head to watch out for the grease puddles on the sidewalk, causing both dogs to grow silent again. Suddenly realizing the awkward silence was ready to strike again, Snow attempted to keep the conversation alive,

"So, where do you work?"

The words were already out before he realized his mistake, causing him to mentally smack his face,

"Oh—right…the café…"

The female just laughed as the Lab blushed from embarrassment,

"Yeah, I work there every day except on Sundays. It doesn't pay much, but it's fun working there."

"I can see it being an enjoyable job. I bet you see your friends a lot too, right?"

The lab turned to smile at the smaller dog, but was surprised to see her looking down at the ground with a slightly sad face.

"I don't have many friends."

This caused Snow to stop entirely, a sense of sadness striking him too before trotting back beside her,

"You're kidding? Someone as pretty and sweet as you? Impossible!"

"You'd be surprised…"

Her somber expression him feel angry, but his gentle nature took over, causing him to be a bit bolder than usual. He put a paw on her shoulder as they both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk,

"Well, who needs a lot of friends when you've already got a really awesome one right next to you."

Though playing around a bit to lighten the mood, he grinned his signature smirk as he looked into her ice blue eyes, a smile growing on her muzzle,

"Was that sweet talk, or a subtle way to compliment yourself?"

"A little of both."

The female playfully punched him in the shoulder as they both laughed in the dark, the clip holding the female's fur hair over her shoulder glimmering under the one street light above them. They both stopped laughing, but stood in complete silence as they stared into each other's eyes, each in a state of bliss.

A raindrop fell on top of the female's nose, followed by another on Snow's, causing both of them to look up into the dreary night sky as it rumbled loudly. Static surged through the fur on both dogs, and without any warning, rain poured down from the clouds above, instantly soaking the two canines. Screaming and laughing at the same time, they ran aimlessly down the sidewalk not even trying to find any type of shelter from the rain.

"This way!"

Snow shouted as he ducked into a covered alley to escape the rain, soon joined by the soaking female. Forgetting he was standing so close to her, he shook off violently, spraying her with a wave of water,

"Hey!"

She laughed as she shook even harder next to him, causing him to laugh as well, but suddenly the female gasped worriedly,

"Oh no! Your paperwork!"

Confused for a moment, he suddenly realized what she meant as he grabbed the drenched papers from his collar,

"I totally forgot! Man, they're soaked!"

The two began to shuffle through the papers hastily, checking to see if all were present and still legible. Holding a stack in her paws, the female handed them over to Snow with a worried expression,

"Will they be okay?"

"Yeah, they just need to be dried a bit."

Snow grinned, since he didn't want to worry her, and promptly collected all of the papers and put them back in his leather collar. The female smiled in relief as she looked around the setting,

"I can get there from here, but thanks for walking me home."

She smiled as she looked back at the polite male, but was returned with a concerned look from the Lab,

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's just down the block."

Though still worried about her safety, he trusted she could walk the rest of the way, and he grinned as he fixed the black beanie on his head,

"Alright then. So, I'll see you around?"

The female turned around as she gave the male a charming smile,

"_Definitely_."

She gracefully trotted down the alley as Snow turned with a blushing face and smile, but his eyes grew wide as he jolted around and shouted after the female,

"Wait! I never caught your name!"

His shout carried out loud and clear through the streets, a sense of longing painted in his words. He prayed that she heard him, and felt as if he would die if he didn't know her name, but no call came from the alley she had disappeared down. Silence filled the streets, but suddenly, a feint echo reached his ears, from somewhere far off.

A smile played across his muzzle as he turned to proceed back to headquarters, the grin never leaving his face,

"_Serah._"

* * *

THANK YOU FOR 

X

Luxuria


	7. Put Up Your Bets!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while, but I started writing another fanfiction after getting totally inspired by the movie, Summer Wars. Expect to see it soon! Don't worry, I am no where near abandoning this story, I just couldn't figure out what to do for this chapter, but all's well that end's well, right? This is my first fighting scene I've written, so I'm sorry if it's not as fun as it should be; PLEASE critique me on it! I need the advice, since fighting genre's are becoming so rare nowadays.

I also want to thank TheRealPS for being an awesome supporter throughout this entire crazy episode. Your reviews always make my day :D

Anyway, here's chapter six, and poor Cloud just can't do anything right :'(

**I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters, along with the ideas behind the Cats&Dogs movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's, and the story's plot line.**

* * *

_Chapter 6: Put Up Your Bets!_

After exiting the office space, Raines and the foreign division began to make their way towards the central layer of the HQ, metal becoming a more common sight now, along with advanced technological computer and data screens. Leading the group was Cid one and Cid two, the Pitbull wrapping his arm around the shoulder of the annoyed Husky, telling yet another 'glory days' tale,

"And that's when our little captain here got his poor muzzle kicked by a sleek, sexy, drop-dead gorgeous she-cat. Oh, the good ol' days, eh Raines?"

With the vexing Pitbull's arm almost choking the poor superior's neck, an annoyed expression played on the Husky's usually solemn (aherm, or charming) face. Sighing, the pained dog neatly pried himself of the death grip,

"Now I know you all are accustomed to working together, and I plan for it to stay that way, but I want you to get acquainted with your new comrades, as you will be working together for quite some time."

This spurred a question and an inquiring face from the quiet Collie, who slowly trotted up next to the superior,

"Do you have any idea as to how long our allotted time will be, director?"

With a slightly surprised look on his face, he turned to the Collie with a smile,

"It shouldn't be too long, actually. For all we know, this could just be a harmless prank-"

"Harmless?" the familiar southern-accented Pitbull shouted, "It's harming _my_ quality time that I could be spendin' outside shootin' the breeze with my ship! I swear, Raines, if you brought us out here for a hoax—"

While the vexed dog continued to rant, Raines bent down towards Aerith, cupping his muzzle with his paw to whisper,

"Is he always this irritable?"

"He just really likes his new ship," the collie replied softly as they both sweatdropped with a sigh.

XXX

In the back of the group, the large blonde male listened half-mindedly to the uproar in the front before being nudged by his comrade,

"Cloud. D'you think it's serious?" the dark wolf spoke in a grumble, staring at Cid and Cid fighting wildly.

"I don't know. It's not a prank, that's for sure…" The two males were quickly interrupted by a bouncing ball of energy at their feet, each of them slowly looking down at it.

"Hey guys!"

"Yuffie—" Vincent said with a mumble.

"Wait! I actually have something important to say!"

Vincent held back a smile, but Cloud was unsuccessful. The sleek Shiba Inu raised her hands in the air as she grinned widely,

"I just ran into the girl you trampled today! She looked pretty mad, but I wouldn't go anywhere near her if I were you—"

Cloud's ears quickly shot up as he crouched down to Yuffie's level,

"Yuffie, where did she go?"

Surprised by Cloud's urgent voice caused her to calm down a bit as she pointed her paw down another hallway,

"She's at one of the P.H. rooms, down the hall, past the kitchen, and through the second corridor—"

Before she even finished, Cloud had quickly, yet calmly sped down the hallway apologizing to anyone he ran into.

Vincent and Yuffie were left standing awkwardly as Cid's ranting continued. They could've sworn a small breeze had brushed past them as silence consumed their voices.

Vincent, without moving anything other than his muzzle, spoke sincerely to the female beside him,

"…When did you leave?"

XXX

After having to take another reroute of his chase, Cloud finally found himself in the P.H. department, where dogs and cats of all sizes were carrying weapons, sweat towels, and conversations. He stopped in the middle of the atrium, a bit of sweat running down his forehead. In all honesty, he didn't know what had come over him, but he had this compelling feeling to see her. He decided that his guilty-controlled nature was forcing him to apologize properly to the female, but he never comprehended that she might still be in a bad mood.

"Hey, you okay there?"

He quickly snapped out of my thoughts to see two beefed up dogs staring at him with concern. The first one was a giant yellow Labrador, and the other was a dark brown Rottweiler that had an incredible, flaming hairstyle.

With a nod of his head, and a grunt of approval, the Lab grinned and gave the blonde male a light punch to the arm, as he pulled the sweat towel from his shoulders,

"I don't think I've seen you before. You new around here?"

Cloud gawked at him with a solemn stare, still a bit dazed from the run, but he managed to get a few words out,

"Uh, yeah. I just got here." He said while stealing a glance at the other dog's crazy hair.

"That's great, man! I'm Snow, and this is Gadot." The Labrador said with a smile as he gestured towards his friend, who replied with a simple "'sup".

Cloud nodded back at the Rottweiler, but he quickly remembered why he had run down here, and turned his attention to the Lab named Snow,

"I'm trying to find someone. She's medium sized, light pink and cream, blue eyes—" he didn't get to finish before Gadot interrupted him with a surprised face,

"Wait, the dragon-lady?" He threw his towel around his neck as he gaped at the flustered male.

"What?" Cloud said with a tilt of the head; Snow turned to the confused agent with an embarrassed look on his face,

"He means Lightning. Trust me, you don't want to mess with her." The name quickly clicked in Cloud's mind as he remembered seeing her profile on the computer screen earlier,

"Do you know where she is?" Cloud barked with an urgent, yet calm growl.

"Um, yeah, she's probably in P.H. room 4—"

Before Snow could finish, Cloud had trotted past them and down the hall blindly, the two males watching him with baffled faces, Gadot the first to speak,

"…We should probably make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"Yeah. Won't look too good on his first day, either."

XXX

_Why is this place so hard to navigate? I swear the enemy's main base would be less complex than this!_

Cloud's thoughts were racing, so much that he almost didn't catch the slight blur of pink in the corner of his eye. He quickly stopped and backed up to look through a giant glass window looking into a wide gym-like room. Inside he saw a strange machine against the wall that was filled to the brim with colorful, glowing orbs, but then he turned his attention to the center of the room. Tatami (bamboo) mats were spread out all across the floor, each had a pair of dogs or cats sparring in the center, their friends and comrades watching from afar. He recognized it as a practice fighting room, but his interest fell directly upon the sleek female fighting in the center mat, the poor opponent losing miserably.

It took Cloud a moment to realize that everyone in the room was standing on two legs, and fighting like humans, and this made his eyes widen a bit,

"How are they standing like that?" he asked involuntarily as a voice replied.

"ProtoMateria."

Cloud quickly turned to see the Labrador smiling at the glass as he watched the sparring agents,

"ProtoMateria?" turning his head to look at the cream giant, Cloud perked his ears in curiosity.

"One of the newest techs on the market. It morphs your muscular build for a certain amount of time. It's quite handy, and our agency is one of the first to use it on the field."

Puffing out his muscular chest, Snow felt quite proud of both him and the agency, also being able to _teach_ the newcomer, but before he had a chance to go off on another tangent, he had to take a double take as he looked through the glass to see the "newbie" taking one of the glowing orbs from the machine. He instantly guessed at what he was going to do.

Gadot waltzed over to Snow to find him in a state of worry,

"Dude, what's killing you?"

Snow didn't have to respond as the Rottweiler took a glance through the windows to see the new agent walking towards a sparring Lightning.

Both dogs slammed into the glass with their paws shouting for him to stop and begging him to think twice, but all they got through the soundproof windows was a lot of awkward stares from the agents inside.

XXX

Cloud held the blue orb in his hand carefully, not sure how to use it,

_Am I supposed to eat it or something?_

He glanced around to get a clue of sorts, and perked his ears as he saw someone holding an orb. He watched intently as the other feline agent gripped either side of the sphere and spun each end in an opposite direction, the orb bursting into a glow and surrounding the agent. When the small light-show ended, the feline was standing on two legs easily, now walking over to his comrades.

Cloud quickly mimicked the cat, and a blue light engulfed him, seeming a bit bigger than the other agent's transformation, and a slight pain shifted to his back and legs. Opening his eyes, he found himself taller and on both back legs, his tail swishing just above the ground. His hair fell nicely in his eyes, which were now locked on the light pink female, who was also in her more anthropomorphic form.

Without any thought or plan, the bold male marched towards the center sparring mat, where a male Beagle was attempting to challenge the strong agent, but was quickly dismissed with a high kick from the female sending him off the mat with a _thud_.

Blowing the hair out of her eyes, Lightning stood at ease as she waited for another brave challenger, but the agents who had been watching turned their heads and started to whistle. A slight frown plagued the female's muzzle as she suddenly had her attention stolen from a certain spiky-haired male,

"Um, I'll try a round."

The room fell silent as all eyes turned to the awkward newcomer, who stood in front of the mat with his hand slightly raised, his eyes unphased as they stared intently at the female who had her back turned to him.

Recognizing the voice, Lightning pivoted her head to see the male she ran into from earlier, his sky blue eyes catching her attention first. The frown on her face disappeared, but she slowly uncrossed her arms as she flicked her hair and walked towards one end of the mat. Taking this as a "Challenge Accepted!", Cloud hopped up onto the small raised platform the mat was on and calmly got into his ready position on his end of the mat, his eyes never leaving Light's.

A referee had decided to join, a tuxedo cat dressed in a striped uniform, and grabbed a sparring bell to start the match,

"Opponents at the ready!" he chanted, as both dogs looked completely relaxed, but in all honesty, Cloud felt a bit nervous, considering he didn't fight females too often, and he didn't want to make a bad impression if he won.

With a quick _tch_, the smaller female gave Cloud a look; a look he easily recognized from a certain female friend of his,

_Don't you dare go easy on me._

He could almost picture Tifa saying it, but suddenly the sound of the bell rang through his ears, and a flash of pink raced in front of him.

He almost didn't block the punch in time, and soon it was just a blocking battle against Lightning's feral strikes. He was at the edge of the mat when he made his first move, a hand swipe towards the female's face, which was blocked by her free hand. But Cloud never intended for it to hit. He continued throwing pointless punches, each easily blocked by the defensive female, but he was centering himself back on the mat, pushing his opponent towards her end of the square.

Agents had gathered around to watch in awe as they gawked at the newcomer and the vicious Lightning's brawl, Snow and Gadot observing with dropped jaws outside the room.

A sting of pain raced through his cheek as Lightning landed a brutal punch with her strong hand, and she quickly recoiled it to throw another while the male was dazed. Her fist made a beeline towards Cloud's jaw, but he quickly blocked it with his arm and grabbed hers with a free hand. The blonde shifted his body weight and landed a kick to her stomach, the fact that she was a female never crossed my mind until after he sent her flying a few feet.

Flipping backwards in the air, she gripped the ground with her hands as she pushed off of the ground, kneeling down once she landed completely. She glared a bit at me, but lunged not a second later, her leg rising up in a high kick. Cloud leaned his head back and avoided the kick by a mere inch, but she quickly pounced again, this time with her fists. He ducked down to the ground and swept his leg swiftly across the mat, Lightning leaping into the air as he did so. The male rolled to the side and jumped back up, his curled fists protecting an already bruised face, but he was quickly overwhelmed with punches, each pounding my shielding arms.

Their tails whipped furiously as the aggressiveness intensified with every punch they threw, and the crowds around them began to cheer, their numbers multiplying every second. Snow and Gadot had obviously brought some friends as they gathered outside the room,

The Squad Seven group just happened to be walking by…

XXX

Aerith's ears perked up as she noticed the roaring crowd,

"What's going on?" she sounded a bit concerned, since the mass was enormous and rather loud.

Raines turned his sleek head towards the ruckus with a confused look,

"It's probably a sparring match, but I've never seen one so immense!"

At that moment, Yuffie ran towards the group with a handful of papers in her paws,

"Hey guys! They're taking bets, so I put some money on Cloud! This chick's going down!" she was practically acting out every word as each agents' eyes were watching in bewilderment.

"How do you keep doing that?" Vincent mumbled as he was even more perplexed by Yuffie's teleporting powers.

"Wait, did someone say 'Cloud'?"

All eyes turned to see a familiar brown and white Border Collie with a red fox-like dog following behind, while fixing his goggles, everyone's eyes transfixed on each other. Barrett poked his massive head out of the crowd with a look of surprise,

"Tifa?"

"Barrett?" with a quick shove, Barrett had found his way out of the group and in front of the Border Collie with a smile,

"It's been a while, huh? Didn't know you were in this division."

"Yeah, the undercover work called me out here. Looks like the whole gang is here!" She grinned at everyone before her partner barked in annoyance,

"Hey, nice seeing you all too! Barrett! My man! I see you've been vacationing from the treadmill—" Reno's sarcastic voice sang bluntly.

"Watch it Red n' Spiky! It's not like you've been hangin' with the beef and lean these days, either." The whole group laughed as Reno _harrumphed_ and started to pout, but it was Tifa who kept the subject at hand,

"It's great seeing you all, but I'm surprised Cloud didn't come with you."

Yuffie bounced up to Tifa with a rapidly wagging, curled tail,

"He did come! He's over there fighting in a match!"

Everyone rotated their heads to the crowded sparring room, then quickly rushing over to the window, shoving dogs and cats out of the way. They looked into the window to find a bloodied Cloud and Lightning sparring like mad, the spiky haired male seeming to be the most bruised.

A slow creaking noise followed as everyone turned their heads to Yuffie, who was watching the fight with an adolescent grin. She looked back at everyone with a pondering look.

"Yuffie… How much did you bet on Cloud?" Tifa said with a calm yet stern voice.

A pause lingered while the Shiba's tail slowed from wagging, a guilty grin spreading across her face.

A nasty pop sounded from inside the room, causing the gang to look through the window again only to find that Lightning had landed a deadly "upper-cut" to Cloud's lower muzzle, sending his face upward in pain.

Glaring eyes stared at the little Shiba as she laughed uncomfortably.

XXX

Back in the ring, Cloud was trying to recover from the brutal upper cut Lightning dealt to his jaw, but luck was on his side, and he had avoided a deadly concussion. But he wasn't ready to go down so easily; he still had to apologize to her, and he refused to be knocked out.

Rearing his head back, he grazed the ground with his foot in a circular motion around him, then shifting his weight back he curled his right leg in and kicked out, coming in direct contact with Lightning's steel abs. A quick, pained gasp escaped her mouth before she went tumbling off the mat.

Realizing what he had done, guilt rushed over him as Cloud quickly ran over to the stilled female, crouching to help the downed agent,

"Hey, are you okay—?"

POW

Light's fierce fist whammed into Cloud's poor cheek as she roared loudly, her face twisted angrily into a glower of rage. Everything moved at slow-motion as the crowd gasped in both surprise and fear, never having witnessed a match against Lightning that lasted this long.

Cloud winced as he tried to open his eyes, squinting in pain at the female in front of him, whose eyes were now those of a bloodthirsty soldier. He pulled his head to the left, avoiding another punch, but he never expected a deadly knee strike under his muzzle, which sent him tumbling back onto the mat. He quickly grabbed the floor as he was rolling on the ground, and held this feral position, ready to act on the defense; Lightning lifted herself off the ground, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth, then looking at Cloud with a piercing, cold stare. He returned the stare, but with less…'cold'ness and more sincerity.

The female broke into a roar as she rushed towards the male with all her might, pulling her right fist back for a mighty punch; Cloud did the same, shouting a powerful war cry as he lunged towards the agent at full speed also pulling back his right curled fist for a blowing punch.

"AGENTS!"

Inches from hitting each other, both agents stopped in their tracks looking like posing models, then they turned their heads to the source of the command. The crowd pulled to either side of the room to let the black and white Husky through, his face in utter rage. He glanced around at the spectators and growled,

"Dismissed!" within seconds, the room was empty, save the Squad Seven gang and NORA who were peeping in through the open door.

Attempting to escape, the two suspects began to creep towards the door before their superior locked his attention on the targets,

"Farron—!"

Lightning flinched nervously.

"_You_ are not dismissed. I want a word with you." The Husky gave a scowl at the female, but it wasn't long before another had a word with him.

"Sir. I assure you, it's not her fault."

Raines slowly turned his sleek head in the direction of the brave soul only to find a tall, spiky haired male standing awkwardly next to the still turned around Lightning.

"Look newbie, I don't have time for heroes—" Cid said with a wave of his paw

"But, sir! She didn't do anything wrong! I was the one who made her upset!"

When Lightning heard this, she glared profusely, and turned swiftly to look up at Cloud while growling,

"Stay out of it! You have _no _idea why I'm upset!" her cold and harsh remark made him shut up, but a sense of guilt still plagued him for having her be the only one punished.

Raines saw this 'lightning' between the two, and smirked a sinister grin,

"Well then Mr. Strife. Since you're so eager to take the blame for Ms. Farron's actions, you may join her in my office to receive an equal penalty for _both _of yourfaults."

Cloud watched him with calm eyes, but softly nodded his head only to have the light pink dog glaring at him with her teeth showing.

Raines took the new comer's nod as an approval and turned to exit the room,

"Good day, agents." He said with a careless wave before heading back to his work space, leaving the two agents alone in the room.

Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but soon found himself against the wall with a painful _thud_,

"Listen you bothersome, worthless, pathetic, gravity-defying haired male. I've had a pretty miserable day as it is, and you being here is only making things worse. So for everyone's sake, just go back to where you came from, and quit screwing everything up!"

Giving Cloud one last glare, the soldier like dog released her tight grip and marched out of the room with a piercing stare, anyone in her way hastily stepped aside.

Surprise and distraught filled his cloudy eyes as the female grumbled away, but he had no energy left to pursue her again. He let his head fall into the palm of his hand as he let out a long exasperated sigh,

"What else can go wrong…?"

* * *

Awwww! Poor Cloud! I know, I is so mean to him TT^TTu

Anyway, you might have noticed a difference in the format while reading. Nothing too different, it's just a lot neater in my opinion. Tell me what you think! Leave your thoughts in a review, or maybe just pm me!

Until next time...


	8. Why Is VII Afraid of XIII?

Hey there-! Wait, what? AN UPDATE? LAIK? FUR REALZ? No not like the furry fake pets! Like, A Soldier's Song update! W-e-ellllllll~

I had a writing spree. Nuff said.

I think I felt a bit sorry for Cloud too, along with making Light seem like a total female dog (lol pun~). I was feeling nice :D. This chapter ended up reeaaalllyy long, holy fantasy, but that ain't a bad thing! Just... don't expect too much from me now -w-

Also, lame title is lame, but it made me gigglesnort, so here it is! The next chappy! CHAPPY VII!

WARNING! MAJOR FLUFFAGE x33333

**I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters, along with the ideas behind the Cats&Dogs movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's (very very few though) and the story's plot line.**

* * *

_Chapter 7: Why Is VII Afraid of XIII?_

Trying to collect himself, Cloud slowly felt the effects of the ProtoMateria wear off, as his body slowly transformed back to its usual four-legged position. He sighed sadly and looked down at the ground, a trickle of blood seeping from a head wound on his forehead, but he paid no attention to it. In fact, he didn't even notice it; the guilt of the day's events overwhelmed him immensely,

_She's right…I should just go back. Ever since I arrived all I've caused is trouble, and it's affected her day the most. What else can I screw up…? _

"Cloud?"

He slowly looked up with his spiky hair falling in his eyes, recognizing the voice on the spot, but even though it was a dear friend of his, he still said nothing as he looked away sadly.

The sweet-hearted Collie looked up at her friend with worried eyes, hurt by Cloud's distraught state. She wanted to say something, but fear that she would upset him more made her stutter in her thoughts, but then she noticed the blood trickling down his face,

"Cloud, you're hurt—" she reached paw up to touch him before he grabbed her arm softly.

"I deserve it." He let go of her arm and walked away, his head hung low. His hair covered whatever emotion might have been plaguing his face.

Aerith watched him leave with a pain stinging her heart, her eyes in utter grievance. She had never seen Cloud this upset before, even when she first met him in a disheveled state. She tried hard to hold back the tears, but only ended up crying on the inside, the tears stinging her heart venomously.

The gang had been chatting lightly outside the P.H. room, but when Cloud exited, the original cheers they were going to shout turned silent as he paid them no mind. Tifa spotted him from the crowd and called out to him, only to feel a large paw on her shoulder. She looked up to find Barrett watching the blonde male sulk off,

"Let him be, Tifa. Boy's had a rough day." She wanted to pull away and run after him, but held herself back, knowing her superior was right. Yuffie stood next to her, her eyes looking sad and watery at the same time,

"Cloudy?" she tilted her head as they all felt pain for the young male, each of them standing silent and motionless in anguish.

XXX

Taking a deep breath, Cloud prayed that no one was in the room yet. He finished his prayer as he pushed open the door to Raines' office only to find a nicely toned body sitting in a chair against the wall, along with a pair of ice blue eyes coldly staring at him causing his body to flinch in fear. The sentry agent that was guarding the door whispered to Cloud before he walked in,

"Good luck, man." And with that, the door shut, leaving the two blue-eyed agents alone in an agonizingly awkward situation.

Lightning turned her head the other way, her trademark solemn expression haunting Cloud's mind as he quietly sat down a seat away from her. The only sound emitting in the room was the agitating ticking of the wall clock, the nice black leather chair behind the main desk Cid-less.

Cloud twiddled his thumbs as he tried to think of something to say, but his pride had been diminished by the female earlier with a drastic blow. He finally found the confidence to speak in a calm and quiet voice, thankful that quiet was the way to work with this girl,

"Um, I'm really sorry about today—for running into you… and getting you into this mess." He paused to turn his head towards her, only to find her still looking away from him. "I shouldn't have assumed why you were upset…I should have stayed in line. I'm sorry…"

His voice trailed off as he looked at her with pleading eyes, unsure if the words he had said would even mean a single thing to the soldier like dog.

"'Sorry' doesn't fix anything—" she said with a serious voice, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Then tell me what will." Cloud's voice interrupted her surprisingly, causing her to turn around and look at him with a confused face.

She sensed no callous nor sarcasm in his words, but pure question that honestly wanted to know. Though her face had a confused expression, her serious visage was still present in her eyes,

"W-What's it to you?" she was completely taken off guard by his stern inquiry, never having met someone with such strong persistency before.

Cloud opened his mouth to say something, but his words were lost within their breaths,

"I… I don't know." He replied with his usual quiet voice.

It was like they were both looking into a mirror, their eyes boring into another being like themselves. They were very similar in many ways, but at the same time their differences contrasted deeply. Time slowed as the two soldiers felt a veil of trust float over each other, each of their pasts and sorrows being shared through emotion, or lack there of. But their eyes never left their solemn gazes, the ice cold blue slowly melting into a warmer sky blue…

The office door swiftly opened, a stressed Cid Raines walking in while massaging his temples. He turned around to speak back to someone outside the room,

"Thank you Clyde, I'll get back to you as soon as I can—" His eyes averted from his colleague to the two agents sitting quite suspiciously close in his office chairs. He took a double take before closing the door behind him,

"*aherm* am I _interrupting_ something?"

The two dogs, now recognizing how unintentionally close they were, both pulled away quickly and then straightening up in their seats. A faint blush falling over each agent's face,

"N-No! There's nothing w-wrong sir." They said at the same time, perfectly in sync.

They continued to stutter nonsense before the director quieted them with a wave of the hand as he sat in his seat behind the desk,

"Subject dismissed. Now, I brought you two in here for a reason…" He rubbed his temple with a free hand while he poured himself some coffee with the other.

The two agents centered themselves in front of the desk as they coughed off the blush, and gave their full attention to the Husky.

"You are both very highly skilled agents, and each of you are vastly aware of the threats on and off the field, so I have a proposition for you—"

Neither of the dogs expected what came next…

XXX

"PARTNERS?"

"Yes… it seems the director thought it would be good for both of us." Cloud said while being overwhelmed with more than enough people than his social capacity could hold. Snow was the first to react to this whole dilemma,

"YEAH!—oh *cough* I mean, um, t-that's too bad." He scratched the back of his head with a grin, holding back the excitement of being free at last.

During the time the two 'newly-partners' had been in the office, both divisions had gotten a bit acquainted, names having been exchanged and all. They had all moved to the break room where NORA usually hung out, and everyone was casually conversing with one another.

Yuffie dragged Vincent around to say hi to everyone, while Cait Sith was having a cat-chat with Lebreau about new weapon mods. On the other side of the break room, Cid was laughing with Gadot and Barrett, Aerith was catching up with Tifa on how her missions away from home had been going, and Maqui was messing with Yuj.

"So Aerith, how's Cloud been after…well, you know…" Tifa's voice softened drastically as she spoke to her dear friend.

Aerith's eyes shifted downwards with a sad gaze, her ears going back as she replied softly,

"Well—" she looked over at Cloud as Cid gave him a punch in the arm before laughing loudly, Cloud looking at him with his usual innocent face,

"I don't know what to do, Tifa. But ever since we got here, he's just been so down…" Tifa put her paw on Aerith's shoulder with a sweet smile.

"Hey. We're talking about Cloud here! Trust me, he'll be fine. It's been a tough ride for him."

The Collie looked at her with concerned eyes, but then nodded her head and grunted in agreement only to be dragged away by the paw of Tifa,

"Come on, let's go meet our new comrades!"

They both headed towards the circling groups of agents, being swept into the crazy conversations they held.

Twitching his golden pointy ears, Cloud looked around for his new partner only to find her leaning against a wall while looking at papers in a corner away from the crowds. Preferring her location rather than the loud uproars of the multitude, he squeezed his way towards her carefully, making sure he didn't step on an unsuspecting tail or paw.

With focused blue eyes, Lightning read the documents with a dull yet comprehending stare, dead set on finishing the work in front of her. She almost didn't hear the tall blonde male lean against the wall next to her, but she refused to look away from the paperwork.

"Not a crowd person, huh?" Cloud said as he stole a glance of her face.

"_tch,_" Was the only reply he received, causing him to grunt with a smile.

A small pause filled in the gap of time between the two before the male spoke again,

"Is there anything I can do?"

Even Cloud was surprised when he heard a laugh escape the usually somber female, forgetting the fact that it was almost inaudible. He looked down at her with his azure eyes to see a faint smile on her muzzle,

"Get me out of here?" she waited for a reply as she continued to read the papers, her bangs covering her face from him.

Cloud's eyes widened a bit as he scratched his head with his front paw awkwardly,

"Um, I don't know, I mean, I guess—" He began to stutter and blush a bit, but his nervousness wasn't too noticeable…except to Lightning.

"I meant out of this _room_,you sick dog!" she punched him hard in the shoulder causing him to wince in pain.

"Oh. Uh, Sure." His usual passive voice back in place as he gestured for her to go first and then follow her. They both walked out of the room quietly and furtively, but everyone's eyes followed them with suspicion.

"I don't think I like the idea of those two being together." Lebreau said with an eerie voice, everyone nodding in unison.

XXX

After walking down a few hallways, the two partners had ended up in the more-office like end of the H.Q., cubicles decorating the long room in a grid-like pattern. Lightning had stopped at one of them and began putting papers in different places while writing down some numbers. Cloud looked around the pretty much empty office space and spoke with a solemn voice,

"So, where's everyone else?" he caught sight of one feline leaving with a briefcase before he realized the two of them were the only ones left.

"Heading home. The shifts ended about fifteen minutes ago." She never averted her gaze from her work, tidying her small desk space up quietly. Raising his eyebrows a bit, Cloud was impressed by her intense work ethic, the 'not sleeping until the work's done' attitude that he too shared.

He flicked his tail quietly; he didn't want to talk too much, but questions were filling the male's head just like the female agent's paperwork,

"A field agent does deskwork?" he asked as politely as possible.

She grunted a noise that the blonde made out as a 'yes', and she began to talk with a simple voice,

"We have files to fill out based on the missions we deal with. Legal laws, witness supports, the whole package." She obviously had a _lovely_ relationship with the stack of paperwork in front of her, the sarcasm in her voice more than clear.

Silence fell upon the two, and the only sound echoing in the room was the scribbling of her pen on the desk. With deep blue eyes, Cloud studied the female's desk with interest, amazed by her organized workspace and neat arrangements. There was nothing personal or pretty lying around, no plants or colorful sticky-notes, but then he caught a glance of a picture in a drawer she had just opened,

"A sibling?" the moment these words came tumbling out of the spiky-haired male's mouth, Lightning looked over at the drawer and slowly closed it, but after she just nodded her head.

A pang of hurt spread through the male like a wildfire, aware that he had intruded on a touchy subject. He decided not to speak anymore, but for some odd reason, a voice stood by him,

"My sister, Serah." Lightning's voice was stern and strong, for she had nothing to hide from her new partner. She trusted him…mostly.

She grabbed the stack of paperwork and began to lock her desk up for the night. Cloud followed her like a mindless dog as she shut out the lights to the office.

They had arrived outside of the H.Q. through the secret back entrance used for natives of the area, and once outside, a random feline agent from inside came up to the two with a few other cats,

"Hey! You're the new guy right?" the male tabby cat asked as he smiled at the larger dog.

Completely taken off guard by the kind agents, he quietly replied with his typical cool attitude

"Uh, yeah." The cat grinned as he gestured towards a street nearby,

"A lot of the squads here are heading to the B.A.B. for a round. We were wondering if you wanted to come along. Since you don't really know anyone yet, it would be a great way to meet everyone!"

Though he himself didn't really want to go, Cloud turned to Lightning to see what her face was saying. She looked away with her signature frown, causing Cloud to turn back to the kind agents,

"Thanks for the offer, but I already told my partner here I'd walk her home." This half-true remark made Lightning blow up as she turned to Cloud with an extremely confused and blushing look.

The felines grinned as they said their goodbyes anyway, and headed off with their friends. Cloud slowly turned towards the wide-eyed Lightning with a small grin,

"Which way's home?" Cloud's honest voice made Lightning growl as her brow twitched in frustration.

XXX

"So um, what's the B.A.B.?" Cloud said as they both walked down a sidewalk, the sky becoming a bit darker.

"The _Bar At Bodhum_. It's a popular hangout spot for the agents, since it's in the field zone."

"Field zone?"

"It's the area that's blocked off to humans and regular civilians like pets and strays. Only agents can access it."

Cloud grinned as he looked over at the sulking female beside him,

"Sounds a bit complicated."

"Not really." She snorted before continuing in silence.

The sound of cars driving by was soothing to Cloud, and he wondered if it made Lightning relax too.

"You don't have to walk me home you know, I can get there on my own just fine." A slight growl emitted from Lightning's muzzle, followed by a glare directed at the taller male beside her.

"Yeah, but it's getting darker—" Cloud stated with a hint of care.

"And?" the light-furred female said as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but then he remembered getting his tail whooped by the smaller female next to him, and he closed his muzzle, sighing.

Suddenly, he felt something being pushed harshly against his toned chest, and he looked down to see Lightning shoving some papers over to him.

"Look. Just fill these out and get to work on time tomorrow—" she sighed as she headed down the sidewalk with a clean trot. Cloud couldn't help but watch her tail sway as he called after her sincerely,

"Are you sure—?"

"Go home, Cloud." she said with an irritated voice, but with a voice that made him smile a miniature grin. Stuffing the paper in his collar, he turned to walk back to the designated lot he was staying at with his squad. While walking towards the main street, he could have sworn he saw a familiar yellow figure walking down a road a few blocks down.

XXX

"I really got the bad end of the bone this time—" the yellow Lab sighed as he continued to flip through the dust-covered paperwork of his fellow agents. Though it was no longer raining the ground was still wet, and the lights of far-off cars reflected in small puddles on the sidewalk.

A slight roar of thunder rumbled in the distance, causing Snow to tilt his large head up towards the sky. Frowning, he soon became worried about getting the paperwork wet, and more trouble was the last thing this dog needed. He carefully placed the paper stack in his mouth without crushing it, and returned to his previous four-legged form.

After a minute of squeezing through rubble and thin alleyways, he finally reached a small and hidden building with windows and doors; a nicely painted sign hung above the cornered doorway, the words, _7__th__ Heaven_, decorated on the sign. Though the warm lights inside were on, the seats visible through the windows were empty along with the bar-seats. Not thinking about how late it was, Snow worried the café was closed and began to hurry towards the door, being extra careful not to drop the paperwork in his mouth.

Reaching the glass entrance door, he shifted onto his back legs, while grabbing the papers out of his mouth and holding them under his furry arm. A sigh of relief escaped his yellow muzzle when he successfully opened the door, but he was then confronted with a dog grabbing a bag behind the bar,

"Sorry, we're closed."  
The black, brown and white Border Collie called out nicely, not wanting to seem rude. Snow's floppy ears sunk even more as he began to turn back around and exit the café,

"It's fine. I'll be going-" the sighing Lab said as he pushed the door open.

"Wait! Tifa, I've got this one."

Snow turned his head to see a small, light (natural) pink and cream dog walking out from a back door and into the lit parlor. His surprised expression matched that of the Border Collie behind the counter, but at the same time he felt a bit relieved and thankful for the kind dog's offer.

Tifa looked at the small dog before slinging a messenger bag over her shoulder,

"Alright. Make sure you lock up before you leave."

The dog brushed past the yellow Lab swiftly before trotting out the door, leaving Snow awkwardly standing in the parlor with the other female. After a minute of awkward silence, the smaller dog finally gestured her paws to all of the available seats,

"Sit anywhere you like."

Her warm smile made Snow's furred face blush faintly, before he nodded in thanks, and sat at a booth against the front window. Shifting to two feet as well, the female pulled out a small booklet and pen, her delicate pointy ears perking up,

"What can I get you?"

She grinned at the male sweetly, almost childishly as she patiently awaited an order. Snow had to look away to speak to her, as he set the large load of paperwork on the counter of the table,

"Um, I'll just have some hot tea, please."

Despite the simple order, the female still wrote it on the tablet before nodding her head and walking to the back of the bar. Snow couldn't help but watch the female's cute, curled tail sway when she walked, and had to yank his head back to the paperwork to focus on his work.

He had barely gotten through one page when the dog came back with two cups and tea pot for him. She set the cups down in front of the male before carefully pouring the liquid from the pot into one of the classic tea cups, not wanting to harm the paperwork he was working on.

She turned to leave before Snow's thoughts burst out of his muzzle,

"Would you like to join me?"

He quickly panicked, the words from his mouth sounding more demanding than he planned them to be,

_Great, I sounded like such a creeper! Come on, Snow! How could you do something as stupid as that—_

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the female smiling and returning to the table,

"I'd love to."

She daintily sat down in the seat, crossing her legs under the table neatly to her left. Her face was so youthful; she couldn't have been more than eighteen.

Snow's face grew red as he suddenly didn't have anything to say, all of the words taken straight from his mouth. He tried not to stare, but her beautiful face and blue eyes were hard to look away from. Thankfully, the female had something to say,

"I like tea too. It's always so soothing on days like these."

Snow's face lit up as he felt a bit of his courage come back to him,

"I know right! I wish they served it at work, but all they have is coffee, and I can't stand the stuff."

"Me too! It always makes my mouth feel gross, and it doesn't even help me wake up."

The smaller dog's petite tail silently wagged as she giggled from their conversation. Snow grinned too as he had completely forgotten about the paperwork in front of him,

"So, is _that_ from work?" she said in a surprised tone, amazed by the workload the Labrador had to complete.

"Oh this? Yeah, it's a long story, but I've got to finish it by the end of the week. I didn't want to get it wet, and it looked like it was going to rain, so I decided on a whim to come in here." The yellow Lab scratched the back of his head with his paw-hand, suddenly feeling guilty for making the female stay later on her work shift,

"I really am sorry about making you stay late."

The pink dog shook her head furiously with a smile, leaning over the table as she spoke,

"It's okay! Besides, I never meet any dogs who like tea more than coffee." Her smile forced him to smile, but he gladly did.

They talked for a few hours before the rain let up, and their tea cups were empty, but both were still hesitant to leave the cozy café. The female stood from her seat as she grabbed the cups and pot,

"I better get going; it's getting kind of late."

"Yeah, I should probably be heading out as well."

Grabbing his papers, Snow quickly walked over to the back door and held it open for the female to take the cups in. Looking up at the male, the female laughed lightly and thanked him for the surprise chivalry. It soon became a game as Snow would try to find any way possible to help the female as she would politely turn him down, or they would both end up laughing at his silly stunt to help her walk two feet across the floor.

Shutting off the last of the lights, Snow held the door open for the small husky-like dog as she thanked him again for the hundredth time. They both stepped outside under the tarp above the door before Snow's blunt conscience spoke up again,

"I-I'll walk you home, I mean, if you want me to, um-"

The female began to giggle as the big oaf made a fool of himself through the stuttering and fumbles, but simply spoke through his broken speech,

"Do you know where I live?"

The Lab quickly stilled as he felt a wave of confusion hit him,

"Um, no, actually I don't." he began to rub the back of his head again, feeling at a loss for words.

_Way to go. You offer her a walk home when you don't even know where she lives…_

The small dog didn't stop smiling though, and began to walk in the direction of "home"

"Good. Just making sure you weren't a stalker."

Snow's eyes grew a bit big as he watched her slow and jaunty walk, suddenly shouting softly,

"Even after tea, you still don't trust me!"

The male laughed as he gated over to the side of the female, both smiling as they shifted onto all fours. With the paperwork strapped to his collar, Snow could talk with the girl without a mouthful of paper getting in the way, but that wouldn't protect it from the rain. A closer and deeper rumble of thunder echoed through the late night air as both dogs looked up towards the black sky with big eyes.

"So, uh, which way's home?"

Snow looked over at the female before smiling, the smaller dog giggling in return. They continued walking in silence before an intentional cough emitted from the burly Lab,

"I'm Snow, by the way."

The smaller female's ears twitched a bit before she replied with a sweet grin,

"_Snow_? That's an unusual name for a male." She said as she laughed a bit, not being rude, just playing with the confident male,

"I know, doesn't quite fit the muscle and color, but my mother liked snow…so I guess that's my excuse."

They both chuckled at the lame reasoning behind the name, but the familiar sweet voice subtly changed the subject,

"So, _Snow_, where do you work?"

Though her question was sincere, the male was completely thrown off guard. His job was confidential, and had to be kept a secret, but at the same time he didn't want to lie to her. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up inside the male's head,

"Oh, I just work downtown. Office-type building."

"I see. That would explain the paperwork."

She grinned as she turned her head to watch out for the grease puddles on the sidewalk, causing both dogs to grow silent again. Suddenly realizing the awkward silence was ready to strike again, Snow attempted to keep the conversation alive,

"So, where do you work?" The words were already out before he realized his mistake, causing him to mentally smack his face,

"Oh—right…the café…"

The female just laughed as the Lab blushed from embarrassment,

"Yeah, I work there every day except on Sundays. It doesn't pay much, but it's fun working there."

"I can see it being an enjoyable job. I bet you see your friends a lot too, right?"

The Lab turned to smile at the smaller dog, but was surprised to see her looking down at the ground with a slightly sad face.

"I don't have many friends."

This caused Snow to stop entirely, a sense of sadness striking him too before trotting back beside her,

"You're kidding? Someone as pretty and sweet as you? Impossible!"

"You'd be surprised…"

Her somber expression him feel angry, but his gentle nature took over, causing him to be a bit bolder than usual. He put a paw on her shoulder as they both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk,

"Well, who needs a lot of friends when you've already got a really awesome one right next to you."

Though playing around a bit to lighten the mood, he grinned his signature smirk as he looked into her ice blue eyes, a smile growing on her muzzle,

"Was that sweet talk, or a subtle way to compliment yourself?"

"A little of both."

The female playfully punched him in the shoulder as they both laughed in the dark, the clip holding the female's fur hair over her shoulder glimmering under the one street light above them. They both stopped laughing, but stood in complete silence as they stared into each other's eyes, each in a state of bliss.

A raindrop fell on top of the female's nose, followed by another on Snow's, causing both of them to look up into the dreary night sky as it rumbled loudly. Static surged through the fur on both dogs, and without any warning, rain poured down from the clouds above, instantly soaking the two canines. Screaming and laughing at the same time, they ran aimlessly down the sidewalk not even trying to find any type of shelter from the rain.

"This way!"

Snow shouted as he ducked into a covered alley to escape the rain, soon joined by the soaking female. Forgetting he was standing so close to her, he shook off violently, spraying her with a wave of water,

"Hey!"

She laughed as she shook even harder next to him, causing him to laugh as well, but suddenly the female gasped worriedly,

"Oh no! Your paperwork!"

Confused for a moment, he suddenly realized what she meant as he grabbed the drenched papers from his collar,

"I totally forgot! Man, they're soaked!"

The two began to shuffle through the papers hastily, checking to see if all were present and still legible. Holding a stack in her paws, the female handed them over to Snow with a worried expression,

"Will they be okay?"

"Yeah, they just need to be dried a bit."

Snow grinned, since he didn't want to worry her, and promptly collected all of the papers and put them back in his leather collar. The female smiled in relief as she looked around the setting,

"I can get there from here, but thanks for walking me home."

She smiled as she looked back at the polite male, but was returned with a concerned look from the Lab,

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's just down the block."

Though still worried about her safety, he trusted she could walk the rest of the way, and he grinned as he fixed the black beanie on his head,

"Alright then. So, I'll see you around?"

The female turned around as she gave the male a charming smile,

"_Definitely_."

She gracefully trotted down the alley as Snow turned with a blushing face and smile, but his eyes grew wide as he jolted around and shouted after the female,

"Wait! I never caught your name!"

His shout carried out loud and clear through the streets, a sense of longing painted in his words. He prayed that she heard him, and felt as if he would die if he didn't know her name, but no call came from the alley she had disappeared down. Silence filled the streets, but suddenly, a faint echo reached his ears, from somewhere far off.

A smile played across his muzzle as he turned to proceed back to headquarters, the grin never leaving his face,

"_Serah._"

* * *

... :D

Wow! FLUFF-O-MANIA! 3 Guess this is now a Serah and Snow fic too! I cannot believe how cheesy most of that was /shot/

Anyways, fun stuff all around! But I guess I should clarify some things

1) The Field Zone: This is the nickname given to the area only agents can access. Think of it like in Harry Potter how the muggle world and the wizard world are separated, but at the same time not. This also means that only agents know about it! or sinister peoples... :P

2) Don't you love my ironic naming jobs~ /shot-again/

3) When Lightning says that mostly everyone has left, that also implies that our gang and friends have left too, just in case that isn't clear.

Hope that clears any confuzzles up! If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in a review or PM me! I don't bite :B

Also, please tell me if you all like the longer chapters versus the shorter chapters! I'd just like a heads up for those who have preferences!

Okay! Bye now!


	9. Memories of Laughter

Hey everyone! It's been a while, but I just got back from Hogwarts, so unpacking and burning off all those calories from the ButterBeer I drank in Hogsmeade has been quite the hassle *phew!*

...

For those of you who are as slow as I am, I went to Harry Potter World for Spring Break xD. Twas ridiculously fun and bloody amazing, but I couldn't write any fanfictionnnnnnn TT^TT

Anyway! Here is the latest chapter, and whoa! It's actually a long one! Well, I guess you all deserve it :3. CHAPTER VIII!

Just as a note before you start reading, I want you all to know that I am so excited that I have had 700 visitors for this fic, and that just makes me smile :D. On the topic of reviews, I always appreciate reviews with my entire heart. In fact, one simple review literally makes my day! I just want to give a special moment of recognition to **TheRealPS**, my one and only reviewer whom I have always been grateful for, and always gives me the motivation I use to write this ridiculous story :3. I'm not asking for reviews because you should only review if you want to. I'm just saying it's hard to tell whether my story needs improvement or not (of course it always needs improvement) without the very readers telling me. So if you wish, please tell me something as simple as good or bad. You don't have to of course, and it's totally optional, since having you all _read_ my story is the greatest gift I could possible ask for :D

Enough of teh boring lore! /shot/

Enjoy! Lots o' dialogue, love, and sadness :'(

_(NOTE: this chappie will reveal Lightning's real name. If you don't want to know what it is THEN DON'T READ BEYOND THIS POINT OF NO RETUUUURRRNN! But then again, why would you even be reading FFXIII fanfictions if you haven't even beaten the game yet /headsmack/)_

**I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters, along with the ideas behind the Cats&Dogs movies. They belong to their respective owners. All I own are my few OC's (very very few though) and the story's plot line.**

* * *

_Chapter 8: Memories of Laughter_

The rain poured harshly down on Serah's soft fur as she began to near her house. She quickly ducked under a dry tarp to shake off the water that had begun to build up along her backside as her common sense rushed back to her,

"I need to get home soon or sis is gonna wring my neck. I hope her shift was longer than usual…" she shook her head and sat for a second, hoping the rain would lighten up a bit.

Looking around aimlessly at the alleyway's features: the knocked over garbage cans and soaked advertisement papers in the road, she couldn't help but think of Snow and his calming smile. A sweet grin involuntarily spread across her muzzle before she even noticed she had begun to smile. No one had ever acted so nice to her other than her sister, not to mention she had only known him for a day. A giggle escaped her mouth as she remembered his burly laugh and goofy nature causing her to look up at the rainy sky through a hole in the tarp.

"Maybe… things will work out okay."

A bright flash of lightning caused Serah to look back at the alleyway, a figure becoming visible from the light a few streets away. She didn't have to look twice to know who it was.

"Crap!"

XXX

Racing through the soggy streets, the small dog prayed her sister hadn't reached the house before her, but she sighed a breath of relief as the abandoned metal trailer came into view. Covered with extra attached pieces of metal and wood, the small house looked like a dilapidated pile of rubble, but inside it was rather neat and cozy. A window on the side and a larger one on the front, Serah decided to enter through the smaller one, which was led into her own room. With a graceful leap, she hopped into the window opening it with a pop, and landed on the floor of her own room.

Quickly searching for a switch in the dark, she pressed a small button on the wall causing a light to flicker, but soon the entire room lit up with a nicely dim illumination. Decorated along the walls and window frame were whitish yellow lights usually used for decorating trees during the holidays, giving the room a nice warm feel to it. A makeshift bed was lying in the corner with photos hanging from threads of string from the ceiling hovering over it, while cloth and a few K-9 magazines were lying around the place accordingly. Though a bit messy, the room was very comfortable, and for most dogs her age Serah was actually quite neat (all due to her sister's order of course).

Suddenly, a click was heard from the lower downstairs part of the house, signaling that Lightning was home through the locked dog door, also causing Serah to panic a bit.

"Serah, I'm home!" she shouted from downstairs, making the younger dog jump,

_How was I supposed to explain being soaking wet? Think Serah, think!_

An idea popped into Serah's mind as she rushed to her drawers where hair accessories and scarves were stashed. She rummaged through the apparel ferociously, causing a large commotion that even Lightning could hear,

"Serah, you okay?" she shouted with a stern yet worried voice.

"mfrrmrmhmm!" was the only thing Lightning heard, Serah's entire head stuffed into the drawer. Worried about her sister, Light walked up the stubby stairs toward her sister's room, it being across from her own.

_Crap! Crap! Craaaaap!_

The door opened to her room as she quickly collected herself in her posture and appearance, her body still dripping wet.

"Serah?" Lightning looked in to see her sister standing on two legs, her body soaked. Then, with a slow movement, her eyes went up to the top of Serah's head to see a towel wrapped messily around her head and hair. Trying to look as innocent as possible, Serah calmly yet happily replied to her confused sister

"J-Just taking a shower, sis." Her curled tail wagged a bit as she grinned widely, trying to hold the towel on her head with a small paw.

Lightning just stared at her sister and replied with an "oh," but before Serah sighed a breath of relief her sister stared strangely at the open window, the violent storm raging outside,

"Why's the window open?"

"…eh?" Serah turned to see she had left the window wide open.

They both turned their gazes back at each other, Lightning not showing any suspicion towards her guilty sister, who was now stuttering like crazy,

"Uh, er-well. I, uh, like the nice breeze. Yeah! Good for the hair…cells, that make…shiny."

The words faded silently as both dogs just stared at each other, Lightning still looking emotionless and Serah praying that she could come out clean, and with a slow breath, Lightning twitched her nose,

"Oh. Well, dinner's downstairs, come have some if you want." Lightning said as she closed the door and walked down the stairs quietly, leaving Serah speechless in her room.

"Phew—" Wiping her forehead, Serah quickly dried herself off with the towel on her head before fixing her hair again. She couldn't believe she got away with it, but it was all due to Lightning's strong trust towards her. Though a bit protective, her older sister never gave her too many chores or rules, knowing she was a good teen and all.

After drying off entirely, and throwing her hair up in a bun with a cute clip, the light-furred female waltzed down the stairs to one of the makeshift rooms in the house, finding a wrapped box on a used coffee table. Her sister couldn't cook to save her life, but she found it sweet that Lightning always went to the trouble of getting a nice dinner for her little sister. If she didn't bring a meal home, she bought groceries from the K-9 black market, a souk that provided food for strays and homeless animals, for me to cook. As much as she wanted to play the older role in the family, she knew her cooking could be…deadly, so she left it to her younger sister.

Opening the bag up with a happy expression, Serah grinned to see Lightning had bought her favorite meal, a rice and fish dish with noodle soup and sweet bonbons on the side. She usually only got this dish at her birthday or during holidays, and the young dog wondered if something nice had happened to her older sister at work today. She laughed at the thought of Light meeting a guy and going on dates,

"As if! She'd shoot the poor guy the moment he asked to walk her home—" She started to laugh before a familiar voice came from behind her

"Serah?"

"EEP!" she nearly jumped out of her fur as she turned to see her sister standing quietly behind her.

"Hey sis, um, what's up?" she said, hoping her sister hadn't heard her.

"I was hoping I could steal a bonbon or two." She said so casually it even threw Serah off.

"O-Oh. Sure go ahead!" Serah held out the box of bonbons to her sister, who carefully grabbed a single piece and refrained from eating it immediately.

Serah placed the box down and felt a tad bit awkward as she and her sister stood in silence, but she still felt like something was up with her sister.

"Claire?" she said in a calm voice.

"Hmm?" Light replied, eating the bonbon a bit sloppily.

"Do you want to just, you know, talk?" Lightning almost spewed out her chocolate before looking at Serah worriedly.

"Is everything okay?" she said rather loudly.

"No! No, everything's fine! I just kind of wanted to have a friendly chat. You know, girl to girl!"

Lightning stared at her sister confused, never having plain chat between her sister and herself, but she didn't really have time to spend with her anymore. A sense of guilt plaguing her heart, Lightning sighed as she closed her eyes and put her paws on her hips,

"Alright, but only for a little bit—" she groaned as Serah bounced over to the couch with a huge grin on her face, her meal in her paws.

Lightning let out a sigh before she headed over to have a seat next to her overjoyed sibling, worried about what horrors her girly sister would 'chat' about.

XXX

The rain continued to pour down harshly, soaking clothes that had been intentionally hung to dry in the high alleyways, but those would have to wait another day. Quickly trotting to his designated location, the spiky haired male arrived at a tall unused building, appearing to have been abandoned during an almost-complete construction. His ears continued to flicker as a strange windy sound repeatedly sounded from behind the building, but he swiftly ignored it as he pushed a suspicious dark button on the wall. A loud noise erupted from the wall, causing him to flinch as the ground seemed to shake from the vibrations. A gate like door rose up from the wall, revealing an old elevator that greatly resembled a rusty cage.

Is this really the place? I feel like I'm going to get mugged any minute…

The usually quiet dog murmured in his head, stepping slowly into the contraption. He wasn't worried about being mugged, the fact that he had no weapon was his only concern, but as the gate closed down, the elevator soon speedily elevated up towards the top of the structure.

The few dim lights from the outside flickered through the gate's fissures in a pattern, bars from the building blocking the lights in a repetitive motion. The lights lightened Cloud's fur as he patiently waited in the machine to reach whatever floor he was going to, his Mako eyes glistening in the faint illumination. The soothing sound of the rain and the unfamiliar windy echo eased the agents mind, and allowed him for the first time in hours to relax; the sight of another pair of shimmering blue eyes staring at him in his calm thoughts.

Lightning…

He held his paw out as he leaned against the wall of the elevator on two feet, showing an interest in his furred hand. The sound of the rain seemed to disappear, and the elevator grew dark, obviously entering an enclosed area on the upcoming floor. Cloud had to hold firm to the ground with his claws, preventing him from falling over as the elevator abruptly stopped in it tracks. With a quick jerk and erupting boom from the lever that had pulled the contraption up, the gate slowly opened to reveal an entirely different atmosphere.

Cloud looked around as he stepped out of the elevator with impressed eyes, the floor obviously the hidden treasure of the under-construction building. It was as if he had entered a totally different building because what he had walked into was one heck of an apartment.

Larger than most apartments, the place was mainly brick based on one side, with darker blacks and reds on the other walls, nice furniture decorating the rooms incredibly. Installed with intricate glass light fixtures, the room was set at a nice tone, not too bright or dim; a serious kitchen was located on the west side with beautiful stainless steel appliances. On the farthest side, there was a huge lounge where random hammocks, beddings, sleeping bags, and tents had been placed, each having their own designs. The west side wall of this room was a massive window stretching from one corner to the other, and in the far middle-part of this room, a black spiral staircase led up to, what Cloud assumed, a loft or a higher level (as if this wasn't enough).

Shaking off before continuing, Cloud soon heard a faint group of laughter coming from one of the other rooms, but was then surprised by a bouncing ninja,

"Cloudy!" He was quickly glomped by a smiling Yuffie, who quickly pulled away as she realized he was soaking wet.

"Where've you been? We started to wonder when you'd get here—" she said as another voice interjected.

"Yuffie! Is that Cloud?"

"Yeah! More like a Rain Cloud!" she shouted back, wagging her curled tail as she poked his wet spiky hair.

Tifa walked into the entrance room on her two dainty feet, a smirk playing on her muzzle,

"Hey, bout' time you showed up, Spiky." She patted Yuffie on the head, causing the spazz to bound off into the other room. Placing a hand on her hip, she gazed up at the male with a grin,

"Long time no see. How've you been?" Her voice suddenly became soft and caring, her tone calming the tall agent.

"Fine. You?" his solemn voice replying with a composed face.

"Good, good."

They looked away for a minute, the situation a bit awkward. It had been a while since they last saw each other, but Tifa was used to the silence between them. Smiling again, she punched him in the arm and started to walk towards the main room,

"Come on. Everyone's hanging out in the other room." She grinned sweetly as she trotted down a hallway leading to the source of the laughter, Cloud following slowly behind his old partner.

XXX

"W-What? N-no! I don't have time for that k-kinda…stuff." Lightning put her paws up with a ridiculous face, completely thrown off by the inquiry.

"Come on! You're telling me you've never dated?" Serah advanced towards her sister questioningly, inching closer on the couch they both sat on.

"Well…no. I'm too busy with work. Besides, they're all just slobbering hounds anyway."

"Aww come on, Claire! They're not all that bad!"

"I beg to differ." Lightning's face changed to a bored and stern face, the thought of Snow particularly coming to mind.

"Well…" The smaller female pondered, looking around to room for nothing specific, the face of a certain male particularly coming to mind,

"Some are sweet, and kind, good-looking, and humorous too. With a strong yet soft heart, and a soul meant for being matched, and eyes that glow—" Lightning stared at her younger sibling as she soon felt nauseous.

"Excuse me while I go throw up." Serah leapt toward her sister with pleading eyes, secretly trying to prove to her sister that she'd found a guy with all of those qualities.

"Sis! Those kind of guys DO exist." She put her paws on Lightning with a smile,

"You just—haven't found the right one yet!"

Lightning blinked her magnificent eyes, a blank expression plaguing her usually stern face.

Spiky...

The image of her new partner played in her head like a broken record, his unusual blue eyes almost glowing. She quickly shook the thought away as she 'nicely' pried herself from her sister's grip,

"And you have, Casablanca?"

Serah quickly shot back, laughing like a maniac,

"Ohohoho~ I wish, e-erm, I mean, well better not let the food get cold! yeah, haha…" she cut herself off as she stuffed her mouth with noodles and rice, her sister watching with a greatly confused face. Before Lightning had the chance to ask what was wrong, Serah quickly talked through a mouthful of food,

"Sho, how wash work, sish?" she continued to gulp down food at a frightening speed.

"U-um, well, just getting immigrants to new homes. The usual run-a-round." She hated lying to her sister, but her stutter worked as evidence for her dislike in fabrications.

"Oh! Sounds like fun! No paperwork for tonight then?"

"No, another employee offered to do it." She almost smirked at the idea of Snow working on all of those papers, but she held it back with a scowl, continuing her reply,

"The office has been busier, but there's not much action—" she paused as she remembered her whole scene on the television today and began to panic with widened eyes, worried her sister had seen her,

"Serah!" she almost shouted, suddenly felt nervous.

"hrmph?" was the only reply from a fat-faced Serah.

"Did you watch the news today?"

"Um, no, I was too busy. Why?"

Lightning sighed a breath of relief. Her sister hadn't seen her insane stunt,

"Oh nothing, just a crazy burglary happened. Was wondering if you knew anything about it" she lied with a tainted conscience.

"Nah, didn't hear anything, but I hope they catch the sick bums."

Leaning back against the couch's edge, the (secret)agent was still recovering from the small scare, along with the tome of lies she had just spilled.

XXX

When Cloud entered the main room, he was entranced by the wide space he had just walked into. In the wide and long room, random sleeping spots were speckled in the room, making it hard to walk around until he saw the middle of the room, where a large bracket-shaped leather couch was positioned. Placed accordingly on the wall and in front of the couch was a flatscreen television, which was currently turned off as everyone sitting on the couch was chatting up a storm, but Cloud's eyes wandered towards the windowed wall.

With the rain speckling the glass, the dark blues and blacks of the buildings created a dark yet beautifully scene, city lights frayed in the distance.

His trance was broken as everyone shouted his name immediately, causing him to turn his head,

"Come on over, red rover!" Barrett called out in his usual deep voice.

"He's blond you dope!" the ever-tempered Cid recoiled with a huff.

"It's an expression you expired milk bone!"

The two dogs were now growling at each other, the original thought of Cloud now translucent in their minds. It wasn't until Aerith's presence made them shut up and act as if nothing had happened.

"Where've you been, Strife?" Reno said with his usual haughty tone, a devious smile playing on his red muzzle, "You smell like trouble—"

"I think you're smelling yourself, hot shot." Yuffie said while reclining forcefully onto him, the red dog having to push the small Shiba with mighty force to remove her from his back. Cloud grinned softly as he watched everyone laugh, but the questions weren't over yet.

"Yeah, Cloud, what held you up?" Tifa's questioning eyes bored into Cloud's like dark crystals, her smile seeming warm and welcome.

"I bet his partner tried to kill him—" Sith interjected with a laugh, chowing down on some sardines in his paws.

"She just had to work on some paperwork. We left as soon as she finished." The tall blond defended the misunderstood soldier-like female, his response quick and quiet.

"I don't think it was the paperwork she was working on—" Cid said with a smirk, a huge blush overcoming Cloud's face as he was about to defend himself in all honesty, but the others beat him to it.

"Cid!" the females in the room shouted, the other males either snickering or coughing uncomfortably.

"What? She's cute and risqué s'all I'm sayin'." This led to the girls erupting into a large fuss, while the guys were left questioning Cid's definition of the blond's new partner. Shaking his head a bit, Cloud found himself looking at the spiraling staircase with a pondering look. Turning back to check on the group, he sighed with an invisible grin as they continued to bicker and chat, catching the eye of a certain annoyed Vincent, who gave his friend a look of understanding. Bowing his head lightly to Vince, he averted his gaze once more towards the winding, mysterious stairs.

XXX

With near a million thoughts rowing through her mind, the elder sister felt guilt roll through her blood, along with relief from the previous scare,

_I don't know what I would've done if she had found out about that whole incident. It's hard enough lying to her about me being an agent. I just don't want to get her involved…_

She was almost back to her calm self when her sister suddenly appeared in her face, causing the soldier-like dog to 'eep' in surprise

"Hey sis, can I ask you something." Lightning's face wrinkled with worry, not sure what her mischievous sister might ask next.

"No."

"If you meet a nice guy and all, what would you do? I mean, would you just have conversations and all?"

Lightning sighed as her sister ignored her reply, and answered in a dull annoyed voice.

"Well, I guess you would just go on dates, eat, talk, steal each other's time away, the whole package. But I wouldn't know. I've never met one." She leaned back as Serah turned away with a face her sister couldn't make out.

"Oh, so… what's it like?" the teen asked with a quiet voice, not looking at her sister.

"What?" The older sister turned her head towards her sibling with a questioning face, her sister wearing a blushing visage.

"to…like someone."

Lightning sighed heavily again, "I already told you, I haven't a clue. You probably just feel sappy, and stupid—" the soldier turned completely to look at her sister, confused by her sudden curiosity, "Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"

Serah jumped as she realized what she had just asked, her emotions no longer controlling her,

"J-Just curious! I guess I should be heading to bed soon." She rose from the couch and headed towards the stairs with a blanket in her paws.

"Alright then. I'll clean up the dishes."

As Lightning grabbed the mostly devoured plates, Serah slowly stopped midway up the steps, turning to her sister,

"Hey sis?"

Lightning turned her question face up towards her sister with a bright look, giving a "Hmm?" as a reply,

"Thanks."

With a faint smile, Lightning found herself in an utter state of happiness, though it was very vague on her face.

"Night Serah."

"Night Claire." With a quick turn, Serah headed up the stairs and into her room, a sigh escaping her muzzle as she closed the door behind her and allowed a smiling image of Snow enter her thoughts. Stepping away from the door, she briskly jumped towards her drawers, grabbing a black book that had papers sticking out of it, and a nice art pencil. She hopped onto her bed as she began to sketch away, the rain outside slowing to a soft trickle in the calm air; the moon leisurely setting into the horizon, making way for the eager sun.

XXX

A quiet step led to the slow opening of the metal fringed door, and a crisp wind flushed across his face as the blond male stepped on the roof, the cold night air greeting him with silence. The rain had stopped, but the roof remained wet and glossy, the bars surrounding the front half slippery when touched, but Cloud overlooked the dampness of the metal, and rested his elbows on them anyway, gazing out into the dark horizon.

His ears flickered back and forth as the strange sound from earlier returned and reverberated louder than the previous time. He then recognized the noise as waves; the ocean directly in view of the apartment, along with a beach past a few low-leveled structures. His mind was filled with irrelevant thoughts from the day as the resonance of the waves and the wind's haunting ululations soothed him, despite the world being mostly dark, the near-distant city lights the only illumination in sight.

As he let out a sigh, his breath became visible in front of him, and a slight chill swept through his fur like an invisible gesture. But as he stared off into the dark blue sky, a strange red light caught his attention out on the waterfront. The blond male squinted his crystal blue eyes in an attempt to make out what the bizarre light was, but it suddenly illuminated and grew in size. The intensity of the light began to grow and envelope Cloud's mind causing his eyes to widen and his fur to stand on end. Red...nothing but red...

_Sand whipped across his face like a sharp-studded belt, relentless in its assault, and even with his jet black goggles on he still couldn't see a thing. He flung his head to the side in an attempt to find his comrade, whose black fur was easy to spot in climates like this, but despite the benefit of his pelt coloring, the subordinate was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a surreal scream of pain emitted from the bellowing of the storm causing Cloud to turn his gaze in the call's general direction. But without warning, a giant, bloody figure rose from the sands in an uproar of panging howls, something black gripping its skull with a determined hold. The beast finally shook the attacker off, which landed right next to the blond soldier,_

"_Come on Strife, I can't kill the damn thing alone, now can I?" the canine who spoke to him was a large black Belgian shepherd that had eyes as beautifully blue as Cloud's, his hair in the form of cool spikes._

_The beast swung a massive paw towards the comrade and roared in rage, but the black soldier jumped out of the way with ease,_

"_Well, technically I could kill it solo, but you being the newbie and all I thought you deserved some credit." The soldier avoided another deadly strike with a leap and spin, Cloud joining him in silence. Both dogs now glared at the beast with stormy blue eyes, its eyes closed due to the raging sand squall. After consuming a quick ball of protomateria, Cloud's comrade pulled out a sword of great mass, almost three times the size of his own body with his human-like hand. Cloud pulled out a similar sword, but it wasn't in any form of comparison towards the blade beside him; the blade of a true soldier. _

_Rushing forward with a fierce battle cry, the charcoal painted soldier swung his sword downward towards the beast's chest, but in an instant the behemoth had caught the sword in its massive palm. Both enemies pushed their weight against one another in an attempt to overcome the other's force, but Cloud took the moment of distraction as an advantage and leapt into the air with a shout. A gruesome smack echoed through the winds of the desert as the colossus struck Cloud square in the gut with its mighty hand, flinging him back into the dunes near unconscious, along with hurl his goggles clear into the desert's storm._

_The ally soldier turned his head with a look of worry and fear,_

"_Strife!" completely forgetting the battle he waged with the monster, the dark shepherd rushed towards his downed comrade with worry. Not a second later did fate strike with its venomous fangs._

_Cloud lifted his head to look at the monster that had wounded him, his facial features squinting in pain. Everything began to play in slow-motion as the shepherd ran towards him with his back turned to the monster, which threw the majestic sword the soldier had left in its grasp to the ground. The beast turned its face towards them, its gaze landing on the felled Cloud, who returned the stare with squinting eyes, which were now being battered by the sandy winds. With a deep growl in the pit of its horrid bowels, the lid on the monster's remaining eye slowly opened, revealing a glowing red ball the size of Cloud's fist, but Cloud never looked away. The crimson glare boared into the soldier's mind like the eyes of a killer, Cloud's own eyes growing wide in fear as the light intensified enormously. It formed its slobbery mouth into a devilish grin only known in Hell's merciless flames, the scythe like fangs in its mouth coming together in a sharp, cold movement._

_Crunch._

_A horrible scream of certain pain rang out through the blond's ears, the sight of his comrade in the jaws of the nightmare of his reality almost too agonizing to be real. The beast flung the shepherd from side to side, having grabbed onto the soldier's muscular body with a smile. As the soldier's cries sounded through the storm's blustering winds, a deep and almost inhuman laugh erupted from the monster in a slow manner. Its horrid mirth echoed through Cloud's heart and mind, the sight of his friend being murdered before his very eyes; he wanted to stand and help. How greatly he desired to rip the monster's heart out…but he was afraid. Fear had him chained to the ground like his ordered life. And he couldn't escape it._

_A 'thud' was the next and almost last thing Cloud heard, the beast rumbling away in a haunting laughter. Almost resisting the urge to turn his bloodied head, the blond male turned to see his comrade lying motionless on the ground a few yards away, blood covering every inch of his front body. Unable to speak, cry, or show any emotion, the still mobile soldier rose to his feet with a great struggle, but managed to drag himself over to his still comrade that reeked of the monster's breath. Sitting upright next to the body, Cloud looked down at his superior with eyes full of fear and confusion, the blood of his friend sinking into his mind like a toxic and incurable poison. As his eyes took in the sickening sight in front of him, the dark and booming cackle of the behemoth rolled through the sandstorm in a haunting echo like the devil's jackal enjoying a joking, sick comedy._

"Cloud."

His fur nearly jumped off of his skin as the paining soldier turned to see who was interrupting his haunting memories. His wide aquamarine eyes found themselves looking directly into pools of blood, or at least what seemed to be blood,

"Yea." He said with a sigh, turning his head back towards the ocean, leaning against the railing in his more humanistic form. The way he said it was almost in a certain manner, not so much a question, which was begging Vincent to wonder if the past event was invading his friend's usually calm mind.

"It wasn't your fault—what happened." The dark wolf joined the blond husky mix on the railing, taking a sip of some wine he had poured into a fine wineglass.

"That's the most I've heard from you in a week, Vince." Cloud huffed another breath as he tried to divert the conversation, letting his arms hang comfortably over the rail, and allowing his tail falling back into a calmed position.

"And that's the most I've heard from _you_ in a month." This caused Cloud to turn to the wolf, as he was greatly surprised by the unusual bluntness in the agent. Vincent just sipped on his Merlot without a care.

"What's done is done. I can admit that through my own experience, but you—you just aren't willing to let the past go."

"You have a new job, a new city, a new _interest_. Just start fresh; give your memories a rest." The dark wolf turned towards the door with a _swoosh_, his red cape flaunting in the wind like some epic superhero from a video game. Cloud let Vincent's words sink a bit before turning to the exiting agent,

"What do you mean, 'interest'?" Cloud shouted back at his old friend with a confused voice, but the wolf just put his free hand-paw up and gave a small wave to the baffled blond.

"Vincent, can you stop being all dark and mysterious for once, and just tell me what in materia's name you're talking about?" with a small laugh, the dog grinned slightly as he pursued his ally, but stopped in mid-track, turning back towards the lapping ocean. The wind flowed through his fur like a lady's gentle hand with the scent of the sea filling his nostrils eagerly. A drop of rain fell on his nose almost instantly, causing the spiky-haired male to stare up into the city's beautiful night sky. The faintest of smiles grew on the agent's face before he turned to head back into the apartment, the amiable sound of laughter of two newfound lovers echoing from the streets below.

* * *

OHO! So we learn a few things from this chappie!

I - Serah doesn't know Lightning is an agent.

II - Tifa was Cloud's last partner

III - We got some angsty Cloudy memory issues in da house!

Also, sorry about just having the exact same words from the first chapter in Cloud's flashback. I actually wrote the flashback here first, and then decided to add the FULL flashback as the prologue to the story. So apologies for that.

Hope you all enjoyed it! I shall be updating soooooooon... :3


	10. Past Reflections

Why hello thar! IT IS I! LUXURIA! BACK FROM THE...well, the school year and its exams X-x

Glad to see you all still reading this crazy fic, and ohmigawdwhat-1300+ views? You all are the best TTuTT

Thanks for the views, favorites, alerts, and the rest of that awesome crap *U* I love you all so much!

And anyway! ON WITH THE SHOW!

* * *

_Past Reflections_

_Buzzbuzzbuzzzzzzz—whack!_

With a sturdy groan, the blonde haired male rubbed his head on the spot where the alarm clock had fallen. It didn't hurt terribly, but the fact that he just woke up didn't take away from the grogginess of the early hour.

A snore erupted into his ear as his eyes widened on contact. He turned to see Barrett in a sleeping bag beside him, and shook his head with a grin. Cocking his head the other direction, he looked out the windowed wall as the world was still dark, and a shade of blue was all that covered the sky. The clock beside his paw read 4:03 in bright-red digital lettering, causing Cloud to rub his face again with a sigh, but the thought of a certain someone beating the crap out of him because he was late to work made him get up without any complaints.

As he folded his black sleeping bag neatly, he caught sight of something glowing in the corner of his eye. Striding over to the room that the light was coming from with curiosity, he walked into the kitchen and spotted the glow emitting from the charcoal refrigerator. The door opened with a creek, and inside was a copious amount of food and drinks, and among the food was an icecream pint with a piece of paper stuck to it,

"STAY AWAY RENO! The Vanilla Bean's all mine…"

Chuckling inwardly at Yuffie's note, Cloud finally spotted what was producing the glow: a rather large crate at the bottom of the container with a fair amount of ProtoMateria orbs varying in beautiful colors. He was hesitant in taking one, unsure if they were even available to use outside of the agency, but he figured he'd get in more trouble if he ate Yuffie's icecream than if he took just a single orb.

Grabbing a blue one with a gentle grip, he placed it into a small tie-up bag lying on the counter, and headed back into the main room to get dressed.

XXX

The cold air brushed his fur crisply as he stepped out of the rusty elevator, finding himself on the concrete sidewalk of the back alleyway he had travelled the night before. The smell of the salty ocean filled his nose with a quick sting, but at the same time the sound of the distant, crashing waves calmed his nerves, making the start of the day a bit easier to adjust to.

He continued to walk through the Field Zone mostly keeping to his thoughts, as the blue haze of the ocean settled in between the building on every street, but suddenly an inviting smell hovered through the mist and towards Strife's nose. The blonde male took a quick curious sniff, but the scent didn't even register as he spotted a small corner café with dogs and cats alike ordering drinks through the windows. A small and embarrassing growl erupted from the male's side, causing him to blush a bit. Without any hesitation, the dog trotted over to the coffee shop, its glowing lights warming the rather cold atmosphere.

XXX

Warm sunlight leaked in through an open window leaving random splotches of light to filter onto the floor of the messy room. A light pink, bundle of fur was curled up cutely in a round bed, but random sheets of paper were spread out underneath her paws and head.

The honk of a car horn was the first thing to wake the sleeping female as her ice blue eyes flickered open gingerly. After blinking a few times, the dog stretched her front limbs out, and yawned before straightening up and into a proper sitting position to glance around her room. Papers and cloths were scattered aimlessly around the cozy bedroom, and the glowing lights from the night before were now dull and lifeless. Another tired yawn escaped the girl's muzzle as she looked down at the black book and papers at the foot of her paws, which caused a giggle to emit from her furry-self.

The young teen grabbed the papers and pencil, and stuffed them into the book as she quickly fixed her fur-hair into a side ponytail. A sweet grin grew on her face as she squinted her sparkling eyes,

_I don't know why, but I feel like this day is going to be one heck of a—_

XXX

"—lousy day…"

Lightning growled as she kicked a metal can beneath her out into the street to get run over by a car. Her walk became more mechanical and aggressive as she approached HQ with a scowl plaguing her face.

_How could they have run out of the strawberry mocha blend two hours after opening? I don't care if they're the most popular coffee shop in The Field Zone, I have to have my morning cup of stupid strawberry mocha cream with no whip-lite—!_

The doors to the K-9 headquarters opened with a loud burst causing most of the nearby agents to watch in fear as the angry female marched across the hall and into the _Covert-Ops_ division. The automatic doors slid open revealing most of the NORA gang and the agents of Squad Seven chatting over morning coffee, since the tech workers weren't up at this hour to work in the particular division. A few of the local agents raised their paws to greet the female, but after seeing her cold stare, they recoiled in their actions and fell into silent mode.

"_Hey Lightning._"

A soft voice emitted from the farthest part of the small crowd as a blond, spiky-haired male waved a paw at his partner. Everyone turned their eyes in shock to gawk at the male, even Raines, who was in mid-sip of his coffee.

Slowly squeezing his way through the crowd that was still staring silently at him, Cloud finally found himself standing in front of the angry female with a composed expression on his face, versus her rather aggravated one. Unsure of what to say to calm the irascible agent, the male simply lifted his paws, each holding a capped cup of coffee,

"Mocha?" he gestured the two different drinks in either of his furred hands towards her.

Lightning eyed the beverages with a wary stare, but before she had time to think of what to say, Cloud mumbled out another sentence,

"I didn't know what flavor you liked, so I got strawberry and vanilla—"

With a soft, yet quick snatch of the paw, the strawberry mocha in Cloud's paw soon found its sweet flavor in the light-furred agent's mouth as she walked past him in mid-sentence. A barely visible smirk played on the male's face as he followed behind her like a loyal dog.

The other agents watched awkwardly before Raines' intentional cough drew the topic back to hand,

"Ahem, as I was saying. We just received vital information from a few of our sentry positions around the city, stating that _suspicious activity was at play_ in various locations."

The group continued their way down the metallic hallway while listening intently, as it would be some of the agents' first missions in the city.

"To avoid any unnecessary fatalities, I have decided to allow the force of weaponry as a privilege on this mission. Besides, we've lost two scouts this week that were trained for hand to hand combat. My guess is the enemy possesses vital resources."

The familiar loud bark of Cid, sir numero uno, shook the hall causing Raines to flinch and flatten his ears,

"All right! Bout time we got our hands on some metal and powder—!"

A black paw shoved the pitbull in the face to muffle his voice as the commander continued in an aggravated tone,

"_You _will be staying here. I may be young and drop dead gorgeous [insert beauty sparkles here], but I know better than to give a trigger-happy canine a gun, _especially _in a populated sector…"

Shouting commenced between the two in the newfound warzone, while the other agents quietly watched with unamused faces.

Tifa slowly made her way to the middle of the group with an embarrassed grin playing on her muzzle. Her tail flicked in irritation before she pointed her paw to her left, away from the sparring males,

"The tech admin are just down the hall."

This seemed to process rather quickly in all of the agents' minds as each took the hint to get away as quickly as possible from the two Cids. With a quick shuffle of paws, the group had fled the scene, the two males still shouting in their own oblivious states.

XXX

Rock music blasted from an old-fashioned, rainbow jukebox that sat awkwardly in the work shop. Sitting around it were hundreds of metal scraps loosely spread across the walls, large propellers and jet engines hanging from the ceiling and strung to the upper landings like Christmas tree ornaments. The metallic floors were cold, but the heat of the working embers and fire guns kept the entire room at a rather hot temperature.

A floppy-eared, black and tan Beauceron was working underneath a car removing parts, so that his tail and legs stuck out from the vehicle ineptly. He pushed himself out on the rolling cart with oil greased across his face, a wrench in his right paw,

"Yo, Z-man! Turn it down a bit, will ya? Darn music's gettin on my nerves." he grumbled loudly, the music blasting in his ears.

"Alright ol'timer, I'll take it down a notch-" A large, black Belgian Shepherd shouted back over the music with a small grin. Without even looking away from the metal he was flaming, he took a wrench in his hand and casually threw it at the jukebox, hitting the machine with a 'clunk'. The music started to freeze up and die as the box's colors flashed strangely with smoke seeping through the top.

"H-Hey! I just fixed the thing yesterday!" the Beauceron barked as he watched the jukebox worriedly, causing his partner to chuckle.

"Relax Katzroy, I'll give it a checkup as soon as I finish this collar." The roar of the flame-gun geared up in the shepherd's hands as he melted some ore onto the leather.

The black and tan male shook his head with a sigh before turning his head to a door opening in the corner of his eye. And releasing his grip on the tool, the shepherd lifted the metal mask out of his face and over his ears, staring in question at the opening steel doors.

The familiar voice of his Border Collie comrade, Tifa, echoed through the room causing the shepherd to smirk and turn back to his work, but before he had the chance to turn the fire-machine back on, he took a second curious glance at the door. His eyes widened in surprise.

"—And this here is the workshop. We received your weapons and gear last night, and stored them here for the time being, but seeing as you'll be needing them on the mission at hand we've prepared them for your use." The lean brown and white female gestured a paw towards one of the crowded walls cluttered with hanging guns and equipment causing the dogs behind her to turn their attention to their own respectable instruments.

Cloud took his time examining the multitude of weapons with calm blue eyes, but the sight of a certain blade made his pupils shrink in shock. A confused Lightning looked up at her partner with a questioning face,

"Something wrong, Strife?" her monotone voice held little to no emotion, but even if it had the blond male would have still remained paralyzed.

"That sword…" his eyes fell upon a giant cleaver of a sword with a blade the size and length of his own body. Its bulky and rectangular shape could intimidate any enemy, and the hilt it bore was marked with daunting, permanent blood stains.

"Oh. You mean Agent Fair's."

Cloud swiftly spun his head to the smaller female with shocked eyes,

"_Zack Fair?_" his voice rose a bit in stating the name, travelling across the room to a certain shepherd's ears.

"Someone call my name?"

Both Cloud and Lightning turned to see the dark-furred Belgian shepherd making his way over to them with a smirk playing on his muzzle. Lightning rolled her eyes at the confident male, but Cloud continued to stare with a calm yet frightened face, but the composed expression covered up the uncertain fear.

Zack stopped directly in front of his blond friend with a smile, as silence filled the gap between them awkwardly. The shepherd was the first to speak,

"Wow, Strife, never expected to see you here! How's my old SOLDIER doing?" his warm grin made Cloud sink into a pool of guilt before replying with an almost inaudible voice,

"Fine. You?"

A quiet hum answered the blond soldier, and once again both fell quiet. That was when Cloud's eyes mistakenly drifted downward to gaze at the black dog's left leg. A raspy gasp escaped his mouth, but he was thankful no one had heard it.

Covering the mechanic's leg were hundreds of cogs and wires, along with metal bars and strange hinges attached to the location where joints should have been. A full metal leg replaced the one that had been gored to shreds a single year ago, and it made Cloud feel sick. The memories; all of the painful memories of that damned day came flooding back into the blonde's head before a distraction from the group gave him a breathing moment.

"Phew! Those corridors can be quite tricky if you're new around here—" Aerith strolled into the machine-parlor with a sweet smile before stopping completely at the sight of the paused Zack. Feeling the strange hushed silence fall upon everyone, the shepherd turned to see what the cause was, only to find himself gazing into the gorgeous eyes of the smaller Collie. Both dogs exchanged gazes for a good moment before a pouting face covered the usual happy face of Aerith as she marched up to the dark-furred male. Worry hung over the shepherds head as he looked both left and right for an escape, but before he had the chance the female was right in front of him.

"Zack SOLDIER Fair!" she barked into his face, causing him to recoil with squinted eyes before she continued,

"How many times have I told you to stop getting in over that big head of yours? It seems like every time I see you there's a new scar that's popped up on you. What in the lifeforce's name am I going to do with you…?" Her voice was harsh, but as always it was soft as an angel's.

Zack still had his face puckered up before he bravely opened one of his eyes to look at the girl in front of him. To his surprise, a heart-warming smile had spread across the Collie's muzzle before she tilted her head with the sweetest smile one had ever seen,

"We missed you."

Every hair on his body stood up as she spoke with a voice threatening to break, along with a shocked look in his eyes. A sweet smirk appeared on his muzzle before he wrapped his head around hers in a saccharine embrace, softly nuzzling the female he had missed so much.

Lightning's cream tail shifted up in an awkward stance, the emotion from the couple making her feel uncomfortable and uneasy on what to do now, but an inaudible "_tch_" mumbled out of her throat before she turned to look at her partner… who wasn't there.

A puzzled and aggravated look spurred onto the female's face as she silently searched for her partner, but all she found was a door nearby swinging from a recent entry.

Huffing in an irritated manner, Lightning made her way out the door without any attention being drawn to her and her partner's absence.

XXX

Wind blew through the blonde canine's fur causing him to squint his brilliantly glowing blue eyes. The black on his body illuminated in the rising sun's light and formed into a navy hue, while the cream and blonde fur on his body burned as a bright orange.

The wind from the coast whipped fervently on the rooftop, but the pain from the gust was ineffective to the sulking agent, and his face refused to express the pain. As the wind let up for a few seconds, an exasperated sigh escaped the male's muzzle, but due to the lightened volume the soldier-like dog heard a pair of paw-steps sound from behind him. His ears flickered instinctually, but he didn't turn around.

A beautiful cream and pink-colored pelt appeared next to him like a silent bird of prey, the magnificent sunlight causing the similar pair of azure eyes to sparkle. The female propped her front legs up onto the edge of the roof much like a human would rest their elbows on a counter, and her half-curled tail relaxed. Neither of them spoke at first, both of their cerulean gazes drifting off into the rising stream of sunlight, yet the glorious violets and reds that were spread out across the heavens above them seemed to sing in a soft and enchanting solo. It lowered the tension, and eased the two agents' minds.

"Thank you—for earlier. I really needed a drink." Lightning spoke softly, having trouble thanking someone so properly, but in the end the words came out as convincing.

"No problem." Cloud sighed again but replied with a stronger voice, not wanting to bother his partner with his upset state.

Silence ensued once more as the wind blew over in a massive gust, but both soldiers were unphased by its roaring blows. The female agent's tail flicked towards Cloud in an almost casual manner,

"You were partners, huh?" Lightning spoke as the wind died down, earning a partially shocked face from the male next to her. But she continued before he could question her knowledge,

"You look at him the same way you do Tifa."

Cloud shifted his body so he could look at the female next to him at an angle where the sun wasn't blinding him,

"Wait, how do you know about Tifa?"

"I read up on some of your files, but it didn't register you and Fair as associates." Farron replied in her usual emotionless voice.

Cloud blinked a few times before a small smirk played across his muzzle,

"You were reading about me?"

A pink hue of blush spread across the she-canine's face (entirely against nature), before she began to stutter a bit in her partially-failed attempt to compose herself,

"N-No. You're just my partner and all—I like to know who I'm working with..."

Cloud smiled softly as he turned his attention back to the cherry-colored sky. Lightning huffed a purposeful tuft of air as she continued to speak in a gruff yet feminine voice,

"Look, Strife. We've all lost something or someone on the field. It's the life of a soldier: to lose a lot of things precious to you—" her voice softened as she spoke the last part, her muzzle lingering open for a moment before closing silently. Her eyes shifted downward, and the shimmer in her eyes disappeared into a saddened oblivion.

As the wind ruffled both of the dogs' fur, the female agent finally heaved a sigh filled with an unknown, while her head tilted forward to look back up at the gleaming sun and spoke in a more confident tone,

"—But gain greater things in return."

Cloud turned to look at the light-furred female next to him, catching her in a beautiful pose and setting. The sun bounced off of her rustling fur in a warm glow, and her brilliant eyes shimmered like a cerulean sea, but it was her expression that made him stare in awe. For the first time since he had met her, the expression of a regular person replaced the usual cold and stern soldier scorn. Her regularly stiff features relaxed and featured pure youthful beauty on her furred face, but the sense of sorrow seemed to barely hide itself among her expression.

Not realizing that he was obviously ogling the female like a fabulous work of art, Lightning squinted her eyes in an irritated fashion and furrowed her brow, not wanting to appear too friendly to the attractive male,

"Think twice about it, and you're dead." She huffed before hopping off the concrete edge and trotting back towards the door

_And with that, she's back. _Cloud sighed humorously before turning to watch her leave,

"Hey, Light."

"What?" Lightning called back, not even trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

Cloud flicked his black-tipped tail once in a curl before returning the aggravated female's usual stare with a sincere smile,

"Thanks."

Lightning blushed lightly from the genuine voice of her subordinate, but quickly retaliated in a Farron-like manner,

"Yeah, well, don't expect another pep talk. I don't have time to baby sit you."

She turned around to walk out the rooftop door, but shouted back to him over the wind in a serious tone,

"I just received the information on our assignment. Get your equipment and meet me out front in ten."

The door shut behind her with a small 'thud', leaving Cloud by himself on the rooftop. A sigh and faint chuckle escaped the male's muzzle as he turned back to look at the gorgeous, whipping clouds,

"She was reading about me…" he stifled a small laugh before heading towards the door himself.

XXX

With their own separate weapons strapped to their backs, the multiple canine and feline agents huddled together in the open foyer of HQ, patiently awaiting their orders from the superiors. Tifa and Reno stood in the center of the fray attempting to see over the taller agents, but each turned their heads to smile at their nearing companions. Along with Snow and Nora, all of Squad Seven, minus Yuffie and Vincent, trotted towards the center to ready themselves for their separate missions, Cloud and Lightning squeezing in behind them.

Stepping calmly onto the risen platform, Raines made his debut a fairly quick one, with a lengthy introduction of course…

"Hey guys! Where's Yuf and Vince?" Tifa whispered to no one in particular as she grinned a sweet smile.

"Raines already deported them. They had to make a long trip out to the city border, so he wanted them out there on the double." Barret bellowed before turning his massive head back to look at the handsome husky.

The black and white male speaking continued on before raising his voice to capture the attention of those dosing off,

"Now listen close! Finding those scouts is your top priority. If you are to come in contact with the enemy, do not engage! I don't want any more casualties, let alone setbacks—"

Lightning cringed at his word choice, and her ruffled fur caused her taller partner to notice. Strife looked over in curiosity as to why the female was so tense, but figured it wasn't his business, and decided to continue to listen.

"—We have teams equipped for such affairs, and they will be on high alert at all times. If you are to run into a problem, report back to us immediately. No exceptions!"

Silence strolled into the room before the husky smacked his front paw on the metal in front of him, causing a surprising boom to echo throughout the room,

"All teams dismissed!"

Dogs and cats began to disperse rather quickly as idle chat fluttered throughout the room. The two partner-teams huddled together before setting off towards the docking station to be transported where they need be.

"So Strife, which sector were you assigned to?" Tifa questioned as she strode beside him.

Surprised by the random inquiry, Cloud fumbled a bit before replying in a hushed voice,

"Sector Six. The south side…" the tall blonde mumbled as he looked away from the female, causing her to grin even wider.

"You like your new partner?" she smiled mischievously, hoping to fluster the quiet male.

Eyes widening a bit at the question, Cloud reached his paw behind his head as he walked to 'scratch' his spiky hair,

"Uh, sure. She's…" his voice trailed off as he watched Lightning gracefully walking a few feet in front of him amongst the many other agents. Her casually swaying tail caused him to involuntarily stare at it, which led to him slowing down as well. Tifa slowed her step to stare up at the male, wondering what his gaze was entirely fixated to. She followed his line of sight like a white dotted bee-line, a smirk playing on her muzzle as she realized what it was.

Noticing her partner had stopped, Lightning turned around to look at the blonde male, which soon led to her ice blue eyes narrowing at his slow pace,

"Come on, Spiky, we don't have all day!" she growled lightly before turning back around to continue her soldier-like pace.

Shaking his head a bit, Cloud blushed at his unintentional gawking and picked up his pace, finishing his unconcluded sentence,

"_Strict_." Cloud quickly hustled to catch up with his partner.

Tifa giggled softly as she watched her ex-partner follow the light-furred female at a safe distance. The air around her suddenly muted itself as she realized that she wasn't walking alongside anyone, and then slowly coming to a complete stop, the Border Collie watched as the rest of the agents walked past her and towards the docks. She sighed as she felt a strange new feeling overcome her as the world seemed to move miles faster than she, yet the sounds surrounding her melted into a slow emptiness.

Her tail wagged in an attempt to find happiness, but her face remained falsely calm and still. Her dark brown eyes flickered unnaturally, and the sight in front of her reflected differently in the depths of her chocolate irises. She opened her muzzle to speak, but closed it shut after it lingered agape for a moment, and with her ears flattening against her head, the agent turned to walk back towards the agent's quarters.

The crowd around her walked fervently forward towards their own future destinations, while she chose to head back, hoping her charge would send her into the reflection she wished to have dancing in her eyes. A reflection made and left in the past.

XXX

The heat of the mid-summer sun rained down on the desert sands in place of actual precipitation, and the strange rocks scattered around the sandy crags acted as the only places for protection against the blistering temperature. Blustering winds whipped the sand particles to and fro, but luckily, the winds would die down for long periods of time, so to not stir up a dust devil, or worse: a sandstorm.

Vincent's large black head scanned the horizon for any moving figures, his ears at attention and his tail flickering back and forth. His wild, wolf body worked well to deflect the heat just enough to keep himself from overheating, but the urban Shiba next to him spoke differently, her incessant panting interrupting her speech,

"Maaaan, why are we out here? I mean, really! There's nothing around for miles, let alone people!"

Vincent groaned at the sound of his partner's voice, the noise distracting him from his patrol. He flattened his ears like an airplane before turning the other way,

"Our mission is to search for the missing operatives… but I do agree—"

He scanned the area once more, spotting nothing but wild terrain,

"Why would they send a scout out here?"

The sound of rock crumbling caused Vincent to swivel his head completely around to glare at a crag behind him. Sand continued to trickle down the top of the ledge, indicating that someone or something had been standing there seconds earlier. They were not alone.

Honing his senses in attempt to better his hearing and smelling ability, Vincent closed his crimson eyes and forced his body to relax. Listening attentively to every sound and breath, the wolf stood perfectly still, but his body remained in an aggressive stance, ready to pounce at any moment. A strange noise cause his right ear to twitch, but it was the sound blasting into his left that pushed him out of the trance

"VINCENT!" Yuffie shouted as the agent beside her cringed in pain. She had clearly been trying to get his attention for a while, but the wolf snarled before barking in the small canine's face,

"What!" he glared at her as the smile on her face dissipated immediately…but was back within moments,

"I found a soda!" Her small buntail began to wag cutely as she held up her treasured find like a small child.

Her gleeful grin contradicted Vincent's unamused expression so much that sparkles began to twinkle in her eyes, while the wolf's 'brow' began to twitch in annoyance, but her cuteness quickly won him over. Sighing in defeat, the male lifted his enormous paw and patted the small Shiba on the head twice in approval before she squealed in delight, bouncing all over the place.

Sighing once more, the dark wolf began to follow his bounding partner with an emotionless expression on his face.

A claw scraped against the sand at a frightening speed, followed by a growl emanating deep within a bellowing throat. A flaming red and muscular body whipped through the air as it approached its target at an incredible speed with its snarl growing louder.

Vincent casually lifted his paws over the miniature sand dunes, keeping an eye on his partner to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Suddenly, the shrill sound from before whistled through the air like an arrow through the sky causing the wolf's ears to flicker back and forth. Recognizing the sound immediately, Vincent lowered himself to the ground before pushing upwards to perform a far-stretched back flip, but in mid-air he turned his body to face the ground again before landing lightly.

Now facing the opposite direction he had been walking, Vincent heard the landing of something behind him, but he knew that the crimson creature faced him in an aggressive stance—ready to fight. Kicking off of the sands once more, the dark wolf prepared to flip himself back around, and as he turned halfway in the air, the sight of a separate dark figure began to grow larger as it pounced towards him at an incredible speed. Falling on his back in the sands, Vincent found himself pinned to the ground with a sleek face inches from his own. A smirk lay painted across the other canine's face before a feminine voice sang in a dangerously low tone from its jaws,

"Hey there, Sunshine~"

* * *

GUFAAA! Cliffhanger luvin'~

Yummy Nutella to anyone who can guess who the two new characters are! :D

I've already written half of the next chapter, so don't you worry about me not updatin'!

I will also be updating _Electric Blue_ soon! So...

UNTIL NEXT TIME :3


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